Rumored Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 prices may make Android phones more expensive than ever

If you thought that the ongoing memory shortage would be the only reason for smartphones to get more expensive in 2026, you may have been wrong. Besides the RAM and storage, it appears that processor prices are also going up, which could lead to even more expensive smartphones.

Qualcomm to raise the price of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6

Qualcomm may add to the already sizable list of reasons Android smartphones are getting more expensive in 2026. A new leak suggests that the company may charge smartphone manufacturers over $300 for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.That’s a significantly higher number even than last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, according to a breakdown published on X by leaker Abhishek Yadav. According to his list, the price of the current flagship processor ranges from $240 to $280.

The new pricing looks even more shocking when compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which reportedly cost up to $130. While last year’s 8 Elite Gen 5 chip was already twice as expensive, the 2026 model could bring another 20-30% increase.

Splitting the flagships

Such an enormous jump in such a short time is the best explanation for the rumored change of flagship strategy across Android manufacturers. Several brands are rumored to have different tiers of flagship devices.Qualcomm is also rumored to have two versions of the upcoming flagship Snapdragon processor. A standard Snapdragon 8 Elite 6 could power some of the leading phones, while a more powerful Pro edition would end up in upcoming Ultra flagships. That could include the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra and devices from Vivo, Oppo, and other manufacturers.

The two versions of the chip will be quite different, as the Pro variant may be manufactured on the latest TSMC 2 nm node and feature a faster GPU, higher-class RAM, and larger cache. On the other hand, the regular Gen 6 chip is likely to be slightly less powerful and rely on a slower GPU and LPDDR5X RAM.

Only one thing is certain

It appears that the only certain thing about upcoming smartphones is that they’ll be more expensive than before. I would love for this rumor to be an exaggeration, but chances are it’s not.

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