60%
Plausible
On top of paying TSMC a premium for utilizing its 2nm technology next year, Qualcomm and MediaTek now have to deal with surging DRAM prices as they prepare for the launch of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600 next year. A rumor states that thanks to increased LPDDR6 RAM prices, only flagship chipsets like the ones mentioned above will be treated to next-generation memory, but that is not expected to make things easier for either Qualcomm’s or MediaTek’s smartphone partners.
Qualcomm to have two versions of its Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, but only one will get LPDDR6 RAM support; MediaTek to only stick with one variant for the Dimensity 9600
A claim from Digital Chat Station on Weibo claims that only ‘Pro-level’ chipsets will ship with LPDDR6 RAM chips next year. The rumor also suggests that Chinese memory manufacturers are preparing to mass produce the same DRAM technology next year, potentially giving Qualcomm and MediaTek some pricing leverage for their Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600.
For those who do not know, Qualcomm is said to introduce the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the top-tier version, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro. As you can tell, the two versions will have some differences separating them, with Digital Chat Station revealing that faster memory support and a faster GPU are two of those variations.
The rumor also mentions that memory prices will begin to ease in 2027, meaning that smartphones sporting the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 7 and Dimensity 9700 could become cheaper. While increased LPDDR6 RAM costs will adversely affect flagship devices in 2026, this is only a fraction of what Qualcomm and MediaTek have to pay for TSMC’s 2nm wafers.
At an estimated $30,000 apiece, both chipset makers will either be forced to drop their margins or force their smartphone partners to charge a premium. As you can imagine, none of these outcomes is a positive one. It is also rumored that Qualcomm and MediaTek will leverage’s TSMC’s slightly improved 2nm ‘N2P’ architecture, whereas Apple will stick with 2nm N2 for the A20 and A20 Pro.
Even though the N2P node only offers a 5 percent performance bump over N2, Qualcomm and MediaTek want that edge over Apple, even if it means absurdly pricing the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600.
News Source: Digital Chat Station
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