Qualcomm to raise chip prices double digits from September

Qualcomm has informed its customers that chip prices will rise by a double-digit percentage from September 1. The company is passing higher supplier costs directly into the smartphone market at a moment when that market already faces significant headwinds. Memory shortages are constraining inventory, and AI-related demand for semiconductor capacity is competing for the same manufacturing resources. The combination of these supply-side pressures has forced Qualcomm to seek price increases rather than absorb the rising input costs. For OEMs and smartphone makers relying on Qualcomm's processors, the announcement signals that the cost pressures will not ease in the near term and that they will need to plan accordingly for the September 1 effective date. The exact percentage within the double-digit range remains to be finalized with individual customers, and how the industry responds—whether through margin compression, cost-cutting elsewhere, or eventual price increases to consumers—will shape the smartphone market's trajectory through the remainder of 2025.

Qualcomm's announced price increase reflects broader semiconductor cost pressures in a market already stretched thin. Memory shortages and the surge in AI-driven semiconductor demand have tightened supply chains, forcing component makers to negotiate higher input costs. By passing these increases upstream to smartphone OEMs starting September 1, Qualcomm is effectively signaling that supplier cost inflation cannot be absorbed at the chip maker level. This timing places device manufacturers in a difficult position: they must decide whether to absorb the double-digit increase internally, compress margins elsewhere, or eventually raise retail prices—each option carrying commercial risk in a competitive smartphone market.

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