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.
As per reports, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro will cost more than $300.
For reference, here are the estimated costs of previous Snapdragon flagship SoCs:
• 8 Gen 1: $120–130
• 8+ Gen 1: $120–130
• 8 Gen 2: $160
• 8 Gen 3: $170–200
• 8 Elite: $220+
• 8 Elite…— Abhishek Yadav (@yabhishekhd) May 12, 2026
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
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 powers the leading Android flagships. | Image by Qualcomm
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.
