Qualcomm price increase reportedly hits clients after Sept. 1
Bloomberg says Qualcomm warned customers of a double-digit chip price hike as AI demand keeps memory parts tight.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
A Qualcomm price increase is reportedly on the way for customers buying the company’s chips, with Bloomberg reporting Friday that the new prices will apply to products shipped after Sept. 1.
The exact hike has not been disclosed. Bloomberg reported that Qualcomm told clients the increase would be in the double-digit percentage range, citing rising costs for memory components.
Qualcomm’s chips sit inside a wide mix of devices, including Samsung’s latest foldable phones, Windows laptops and smartwatches, according to the report. The Bloomberg report did not say how, or whether, the higher costs will be passed on to shoppers.
Why is Qualcomm raising prices?
Bloomberg tied the move to higher memory costs, which have been pushed up by heavy spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure. AI companies are building data centers, and those facilities require large amounts of memory.
That squeeze has been widely nicknamed “RAMageddon,” a shorthand for the memory shortage and price pressure now hitting the tech business. Memory is a core part of phones, laptops, servers and other electronics, so higher component costs can ripple through many kinds of devices.
The reported Qualcomm hike would put one of the mobile chip industry’s biggest names into the same broader pressure zone as other tech companies dealing with costlier memory. Bloomberg’s report said the price change applies to Qualcomm products shipped after Sept. 1, rather than devices already on shelves.
How long could the memory crunch last?
Previous reporting by Mashable on the global memory crunch cited experts who said the strain is likely to continue before conditions improve. Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at International Data Corporation, told Mashable earlier this year that relief was unlikely before at least 2028.
Ubrani told Mashable in May that device makers should expect memory supply to stay tight through the rest of 2026 and into 2027. He also said some easing could come in 2028 if new memory production becomes available, although he did not expect device prices to fall sharply even then.
For Qualcomm customers, the reported message is more immediate: chips shipping after Sept. 1 are set to cost more, according to Bloomberg. The report did not name specific customers receiving the notice or list which Qualcomm products would be most affected.
The timing lands as AI demand continues to soak up memory supply across the industry. If Bloomberg’s report is accurate, Qualcomm is now passing at least part of that pressure to its own buyers, adding another price signal from a tech sector still wrestling with the memory squeeze.
This story draws on original reporting from Mashable.