False alarm: Snapdragon 875 price will likely not be a massive increase over Snapdragon 865

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Rumors about a massive increase in Qualcomm Snapdragon 875's price are baseless, claims Android Police's David Ruddock.

Earlier, Korean sources had indicated that the Snapdragon 875 price would be $250, a massive increase over the Snapdragon 865, which apparently costs around $160. The alleged price included the cost of the integrated X60 5G modem, which is also said to be more expensive than the existing X55 modem that's paired with Qualcomm's current flagship chip.

Ruddock alleges that this report is unfounded and it makes total sense.

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High Snapdragon 875 price could drive away clients

According to Poco’s general manager Manmohan Chandolu, the Snapdragon 855 was launched at a higher price than its predecessor, and the Snapdragon 865 costs a lot more.

This puts companies like Google and Nokia in a conundrum. While Nokia is supposedly prepping a Snapdragon 865-powered phone, Google will apparently be sticking with a midrange chip for the Pixel 5 this year, before transitioning to in-house silicon next year.

Samsung already makes its own chips and OPPO is said to be doing the same. Now, OPPO is owned by the same company that is behind OnePlus and Vivo and if either of them successfully develops an SoC, Qualcomm could lose a major chunk of its business.

Qualcomm is an established player, with years of expertise, and it will take a long time for mobile vendors to catch up. A higher Snapdragon 875 price will provide more of an incentive to its clients to make their own chips and the chip maker certainly wouldn't want that.

Samsung has already started selling its Exynos chips to smartphone manufacturers and MediaTek has also been ramping up its 5G efforts. So, even those manufacturers who are not considering making their own chips do have alternatives.

Thus, while the Snapdragon 875 might be a little costlier than the Snapdragon 865, the increase will likely be subtle. Otherwise, Qualcomm would just be shooting itself in the foot.

Time will tell, while many bloggers are intimidating by price increases. Perhaps this is a marketing move to boost smartphone sales after quarantine.