Xiaomi Mi 18 Global Debut! Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen6 Pro’s Cost is Outrageously High
Qualcomm’s next-generation flagship platform, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen6 series, will break with convention and adopt a dual-chip parallel release strategy for the first time.
The higher-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen6 Pro not only exclusively supports the new generation of LPDDR6 memory, but also integrates a full-fledged GPU core and a larger cache, striving to achieve a leapfrog breakthrough in extreme performance.
Behind the performance boost lies a high manufacturing cost. According to industry supply chain sources, the entire Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen6 series will be built using TSMC’s most advanced N2P process. As the foundry cost for 2nm wafers is expected to soar to $30,000, Qualcomm’s chip procurement prices will also rise accordingly.
The cost of a single chip in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen6 Pro is very likely to exceed $300, a price that is almost equivalent to a mid-range phone currently on the market.
This unprecedented cost pressure, coupled with the recent price increases in storage chips and memory components, foreshadows a wave of price hikes for the next generation of flagship smartphones. For smartphone manufacturers, striking a balance between performance and price will be the biggest challenge in 2026.
Limited by procurement costs, domestic mobile phone manufacturers will become more cautious in their configuration choices for flagship iterations. Future domestic models may no longer come standard with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen6 Pro across the entire range, but rather reserve it only for top-of-the-line versions like the Pro or Ultra. As for standard models, they may be equipped with the standard version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen6, and it’s even possible that they will continue to use the previous generation’s mature platform.
In terms of release schedule, Xiaomi remains at the forefront of the industry. Based on the current progress, the Xiaomi 18 series is already in the deep research and development stage and has secured the global debut of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen6 series, with an expected official launch in September this year.
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