Qualcomm is raising phone chip prices starting September 1st

RAMageddon won’t be the only reason your next phone costs more — Qualcomm is about to raise prices on all its processors, as well. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said on Wednesday that “prices are going to go up” on the company’s products starting on September 1st, CNBC reports. The price hikes were rumored last week to be “a percentage in the double digits.”

Qualcomm announced the planned price increases while reporting a 20 percent year-over-year drop in revenue from its handset business, the lowest it’s reported since 2021. In its quarterly earnings presentation, Qualcomm said this drop is due to “unprecedented increases in memory pricing and supply constraints,” which have been driving up prices on everything from game consoles to laptops and even Raspberry Pi boards, with no sign of stopping any time soon. But instead of profiting less as a result, the company says it’ll raise its own prices to compensate.

Qualcomm is also expecting an “acceleration” in the dip in revenue from Apple products, noting that its “modem share for the upcoming iPhone launch is expected to be materially lower.” It suggested twice on the earnings call that its other businesses would make up the difference.

As smartphone revenue declines, it seems Qualcomm’s planning to become a tripod of handset, data center, and automotive — it said today that soon only half of its revenue will come from phones, and only one-third will be from phones by 2029, as its data center and automotive businesses ramp.

On Wednesday, Qualcomm announced a decade-long deal to supply chips for BMW. Qualcomm EVP, CFO, and COO Akash Palkhiwala also said some OEMs are beginning to use “prior generation” Qualcomm chips in their devices in response to higher component costs.