Qualcomm warns of double-digit chip price hikes from September

Qualcomm told customers it will raise prices by double-digit percentages on products shipped after September 1st, citing component shortages.

Qualcomm has sent customers a letter warning of price increases in the double-digit percentage range, taking effect for products shipped after September 1st, according to Bloomberg's reporting. The company said it has exhausted its ability to absorb higher costs from suppliers amid component shortages, and that it tried to source parts from alternate suppliers before deciding to raise prices.

Qualcomm's chips reach a broad slice of the device market — Samsung foldables, upcoming smartglasses, and Windows PCs among them. The company had previously promised a platform enabling $300 Windows laptops, the kind of price point that widens access to computing. A double-digit increase at the chip level pushes against that.

This is a friction signal for connectivity and goods. When a core component gets more expensive, the cost tends to ripple outward toward the finished device, making phones, laptops and wearables harder to reach for people at the margins. Qualcomm is not alone: component shortages have already pushed up prices on Xbox consoles, Raspberry Pi boards, Apple devices, and Samsung and Google smartphones. A cheaper, more connected baseline gets a little further away.

What remains uncertain is how much lands on consumers. Device makers may absorb some of the increase or pass it through in full. Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the details here come from Bloomberg rather than a public Qualcomm statement, so the exact scope of the hikes is still coming into focus.

Source: The Verge