For a few years now, we have learned to take artificial intelligence as a given thanks to the experience we have with everyday devices, including smartphones. But alarming consequences are emerging and could have repercussions on the market. The integration of artificial intelligence into smartphones can be done in several ways. In addition to arriving via apps, which in turn perhaps rely on cloud services, smartphone AI can also be integrated directly into the device itself. The processor is the component most designated to “host” the artificial intelligence of smartphones. And according to the latest news online, the rise of AI in smartphones could literally cost us dearly. In fact, according to what has emerged from some Chinese sources, Qualcomm is expected to introduce a price increase for its Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, the processor that will most likely equip the new Galaxy S25 series. In fact, the new processor should offer an even more advanced AI processing unit compared to that found in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This increase would not be negligible: according to Ming-Chi Kuo, we are talking about ‘a price increase of around 25 or 30% compared to the current generation. And this would obviously also weigh on the launch price of the Galaxy S25. In summary, the Galaxy S25 could see a bigger launch price increase than usual. And Samsung would not be directly involved in this increase, as it would adapt to the increases introduced by Qualcomm. For now, no details have yet leaked on the likely scale of the increases expected for the Galaxy S25.
Samsung’s Galaxy devices have always demonstrated a dual soul: some with a Snapdragon processor and others with an Exynos processor made by Samsung, based on the reference market. The possibility of the adoption of Exynos processors for the new Galaxy S25 is not that far away. Samsung, at least for certain markets, could indeed rely on its processors for the launch of the Galaxy S25 series. Of course, it needs to be understood whether users would have to give up some of the AI power to have less dramatic increases. The other alternative is that Samsung accommodates the increases, thereby increasing the launch price of the Galaxy S25 more than usual. Perhaps convince users with the new potential of AI. In this sense, the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 should be produced with TSMC’s 3nm N3E process, which should bring significant improvements to the performance of the CPU, GPU and NPU (the unit responsible for supporting the AI).
