Android phones may be a lot more expensive in 2025. Here’s why

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
As if inflation isn’t hitting groceries and the housing market arduous sufficient, your smartphone might additionally grow to be more expensive in 2025. According to a put up on Weibo, the value of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 — the chip anticipated to energy most 2025 flagship Android phones — is about to extend considerably, together with the price of the SM8750 wafer used in its manufacturing.
There’s no arduous determine on what “vital” means, however even a soar of 10% or 20% might translate to a increased MSRP when it comes time to purchase your subsequent Android flagship cellphone. That mentioned, this isn’t utterly sure since value will increase throughout manufacturing don’t at all times get handed on to the buyer.
Phone costs on the flagship finish are already about as excessive as shoppers are keen to go, with top-tier fashions of Android and Apple phones pushing $1,000-$1,200. It’s arduous to see consumers being keen to spend a lot more. Unfortunately, costs additionally are inclined to be “sticky,” which means as soon as they go up, they don’t normally come down once more. So, if we do see a value hike to accommodate the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, that may grow to be the brand new regular.
For some context, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was 25% more expensive than the previous-gen chip, however just some phones, just like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, noticed a value improve. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and OnePlus 12 didn’t increase their costs to accommodate the more expensive chip.
Part of the explanation the value is growing is probably going the 3nm course of TSMC is adopting. The chip can also be confirmed to make use of the brand new Oryon CPU and an up to date neural processing unit. This may translate into vital efficiency will increase, with the Snapdragon X Elite, which has the identical CPU, beating Apple’s M3 MacBook Air in some benchmarks and app emulation.
All this mentioned, nothing is confirmed but. With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 set to launch in October, we’re not prone to get arduous value figures till a few months from now. And even then, it’ll be at the very least one or two more months earlier than the primary Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 units can be found.

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