Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 might be more expensive than 8 Gen 3

Qualcomm has taken the wraps off the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 flagship chipset this week. However, the company also confirmed that its 2024 silicon, ostensibly the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, will be powered by custom Oryon CPU cores.

Now, a company executive has revealed that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could be more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Qualcomm senior vice president Chris Patrick noted that custom CPU cores “don’t necessarily mean more expensive,” but added that it allows the company to strike a different balance between pricing, power consumption, and performance. Unfortunately, it looks like this balance could be in favor of a steeper price tag.

“We do expect the (Snapdragon 8) Gen 4 will have some cost increase as we really pursue really astonishing levels of performance (sic),” Patrick said in response to an Android Authority question.

Either way, it’s a little disappointing to hear that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could actually be more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. That could potentially mean that the Galaxy S25 series, Xiaomi 15 range, and other 2025 flagship phones get higher price tags.

Disclosure: Hadlee Simons is a guest of Qualcomm at its Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Hawaii. The company has no influence over editorial coverage.