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Snapdragon 8 Elite 3 may be too expensive for some flagship phones, leak reveals

A new report claims Qualcomm could release not one but two flagship Snapdragon chipsets next year, mirroring Apple with the A18 and A18 Pro. The more powerful SoC could be almost prohibitively expensive, however.

While Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 may still be months away from launch, next year's Snapdragon 8 Elite 3 looks to be in the works already, and a new leak now claims the flagship chipset could be worryingly expensive.

Supposedly, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 3—expected to debut in late 2026 and power flagships like the Galaxy S27 and Xiaomi 17 series—could be incredibly expensive. So expensive, in fact, that some OEMs may choose not to equip their premium devices with the chipset.

According to Digital Chat Station, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 3 will be available in two forms: the standard SM8950, and a cheaper, likely less powerful version, potentially coded as the SM8945. Both chipsets are said to mirror the relationship between Apple's A18 and A18 Pro on the current-gen iPhones.

Although "SM8950" may be too expensive, it appears its sibling "SM8945" could be more reasonably priced, and could even end up powering quite a few premium devices in 2027. If this leak turns out accurate, it wouldn't be surprising to see "SM8945" underpin lower-end premium phones like the Redmi K100 Pro and iQOO 15. 

Costs...As Digital Chat Station explains, the idea would be to reduce manufacturing costs, which are expected to increase significantly due to the adoption of TSMC's 2nm lithography. Estimates suggest that the price of using the technology could jump from the current US$20,000 charged for the 3nm process to somewhere between US$25,000 and US$30,000.

It is expected that this cost will end up being passed on to the price of cell phones, making it impossible to adopt the most powerful 8 Elite Gen 3 model as the standard processor. The current market scenario, in which there are practically no alternatives to TSMC, in addition to recurring sanctions that could prevent manufacturers like Xiaomi from developing their own cutting-edge chips, complicate the situation further.

In any case, there is still more than a year to go until the launch of the third generation of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which should be enough time for solutions or alternatives to be found. Until then, leaks should indicate how smartphone companies will prepare for the possible price increase.

mundophone