Qualcomm to Hike Chip Prices Double Digits Starting September 1

Qualcomm sent a letter to customers on Friday, July 24, warning of a price increase described as "a percentage in the double digits," according to Bloomberg News, which was cited by Reuters and multiple outlets. The hike applies to products shipped after September 1.

Qualcomm did not respond to requests for comment from The Verge or Reuters. The exact percentage hasn't been disclosed publicly.

Why Qualcomm says it's doing this

The company told customers it has "exhausted its ability to absorb higher costs from suppliers," according to The Verge's reporting on the Bloomberg letter. Qualcomm also said it tried sourcing components from alternate suppliers before landing on the price hike as a last resort.

The driver is memory chips. A global shortage, sometimes called "RAMageddon," has been squeezing the entire tech supply chain as memory makers redirect capacity toward AI data centers instead of consumer electronics, according to Mashable. Reuters reported the same dynamic, noting Qualcomm is being squeezed by a memory shortage "as investment is redirected toward AI infrastructure."

International Data Corporation research manager Jitesh Ubrani told Mashable in May that the memory supply will stay tight through the rest of 2026 and into 2027, with only partial relief expected in 2028. Ubrani's exact words: "We will see some alleviation in 2028, but keep in mind that prices will continue to rise throughout. And even in 2028... we don't see device prices dropping significantly."

An industry analyst on record said this doesn't get meaningfully better for at least two more years.

Who this hits

Qualcomm chips aren't a niche product. They're in Samsung's new foldable phones, upcoming smartglasses, Windows laptops, and smartwatches, according to both The Verge and Mashable. Qualcomm earlier this year touted a new chip platform meant to enable $300 Windows PCs. Higher chip costs could blow up that pricing plan if manufacturers pass costs to consumers, which The Verge notes is the likely outcome.

Crypto Briefing reported that smartphone bill-of-materials costs have already climbed 10-30% industry-wide during 2025 and 2026, and that Qualcomm's next flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, could carry a price above $300, up from the prior generation's $240 to $280 range, based on reports from May 2026. If that holds, it's a jump of at least 8% to 25% on the chip itself, before Qualcomm's new double-digit surcharge is even applied.

Qualcomm isn't alone. Roku raised streaming hardware prices by up to $50, according to The Verge. Framework's premium laptop now costs $800 more and ships with less RAM, per separate Verge reporting. Xbox consoles, Raspberry Pi boards, and most Apple, Samsung, and Google devices have all seen price increases tied to the same component crunch.

The other side of the ledger

Qualcomm's public framing, at least as relayed through its Investor Day materials from June 2026, is not solely about defending margins on phone chips. Crypto Briefing reported that Qualcomm raised its fiscal 2029 revenue target for non-handset markets, meaning AI, automotive, and data center chips, to $40 billion. That's a deliberate pivot away from dependence on smartphone processors, and it's the number Crypto Briefing argues investors should watch more closely than any single price hike.

A company diversifying revenue isn't automatically gouging its handset customers. Rising supplier costs are a real, documented industry-wide phenomenon, not a Qualcomm invention. MediaTek remains the main competitive check on Qualcomm's Android pricing power, though Crypto Briefing notes MediaTek hasn't cracked the premium tier with the same consistency, which limits how much competitive pressure can hold Qualcomm's prices down.

Qualcomm's stock was down more than 1% on the news, according to Reuters. That's a modest single-day move, not a rout, and it shouldn't be read as investors panicking over the announcement.

What's next

Qualcomm is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on July 29, according to Reuters. That call should clarify how much of the price increase is being driven by memory costs specifically versus broader supply-chain repositioning, and whether Qualcomm expects device makers like Samsung and the Windows PC ecosystem to absorb the hit or pass it straight to buyers. Until then, the actual percentage increase remains undisclosed, and no manufacturer has said publicly how much of it will land on retail price tags.