In a move that feels like it's been coming for a long time, tech giant Qualcomm has confirmed it's raising the prices of its processors, including its flagship Snapdragon series. That's bad news for countless companies, including the brands behind some of the best gaming phones, such as REDMAGIC and Samsung, to smaller names in China producing retro gaming handhelds. It's also poor timing for Valve ahead of the launch of the Steam Frame.
Unsurprisingly, this Qualcomm price hike is a direct result of the current crisis surrounding component cost and availability, an issue which is widely blamed on demand from AI companies. It's an industry-wide issue that's put strain on even the biggest companies, forcing Nintendo to raise the price of the Switch 2 as of September, while the price of both versions of the Steam Deck OLED is up over 40% compared to what it was at the start of the year.
According to Bloomberg, Qualcomm confirmed the price hikes in an email to its customers, informing them that it was no longer viable for the company to absorb increased supplier costs. The report doesn't suggest what individual price hikes Android and gaming companies are looking at from Qualcomm, but that prices could go up by "a percentage in the double digits" as of September 1. That's particularly bad news for the brands behind some of the top picks from our guide to the best retro handhelds, such as Ayaneo and Retroid, as affordability is a big selling point for devices such as the Retroid Pocket Nova and the Ayn Thor.
As we alluded to earlier, this announcement could also spell danger for the upcoming launch of the Steam Frame. Valve's upcoming wireless VR headset packs a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, a processor that Qualcomm is likely about to make more expensive. At the time of writing, Valve hasn't commented on whether this development will affect the price of the Steam Frame, but it's quite possible that the gaming giant could push the price hike onto the consumer.
One brand we have seen comment on the communication from Qualcomm is Retroid, which took to Discord and X to confirm that it's "pushing hard to keep Pocket Nova's price stable." However, we'll have to wait for the price hikes to take effect in September to see just what sort of impact they have on the wider industry. If you were thinking about picking up a new gaming handheld or Android phone, though, now might be a good time