RAMageddon won’t be the only reason your next phone costs more — Qualcomm is about to raise prices on all its processors, as well.
What happened
RAMageddon won’t be the only reason your next phone costs more — Qualcomm is about to raise prices on all its processors, as well. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said on Wednesday that “prices are going to go up” on the company’s products starting on September 1st, CNBC reports. The price hikes were rumored last week to be “a percentage in the double digits. This is still a developing thread, so the useful part is knowing which source signals are hardening and which ones still need caution. With devices, practical impact usually shows up in battery life, heat, stability, and long-term usability rather than in a few flashy headline numbers.
Practical impact for readers
Qualcomm announced the planned price increases while reporting a 20 percent year-over-year drop in revenue from its handset business, the lowest it’s reported since 2021 . In its quarterly earnings presentation, Qualcomm said this drop is due to “unprecedented increases in memory pricing and supply constraints,” which have been driving up prices on everything from game consoles to laptops and even Raspberry Pi boards , with no sign of stopping any time soon . But instead of profiting less as a result, the company says it’ll raise its own prices to compensate.
Details worth verifying
Next 1 / 2 Image: Qualcomm Qualcomm is also expecting an “acceleration” in the dip in revenue from Apple products, noting that its “modem share for the upcoming iPhone launch is expected to be materially lower. ” It suggested twice on the earnings call that its other businesses would make up the difference. The readers who should care most are the ones planning to replace a device, buy an accessory, or upgrade a work setup in the next few months. The next step is to see whether the current signals harden into a durable change or fade as a short-lived experiment.
Who should act or wait
As smartphone revenue declines, it seems Qualcomm’s planning to become a tripod of handset, data center, and automotive — it said today that soon only half of its revenue will come from phones, and only one-third will be from phones by 2029, as its data center and automotive businesses ramp. The next step is to see whether the current signals harden into a durable change or fade as a short-lived experiment. That is why the useful reading move is not to stop at the headline, but to compare the promise, the workflow change, and the likely cost before deciding anything.
What is still unclear
On Wednesday, Qualcomm announced a decade-long deal to supply chips for BMW . Qualcomm EVP, CFO, and COO Akash Palkhiwala also said some OEMs are beginning to use “prior generation” Qualcomm chips in their devices in response to higher component costs. That is why the useful reading move is not to stop at the headline, but to compare the promise, the workflow change, and the likely cost before deciding anything.
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