Qualcomm’s Most Powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro May Get Skipped By Xiaomi Due To Its Expensive Price, A Pitfall Of Switching To TSMC’s 2nm Process

Most smartphone manufacturers would have gladly equipped their flagships with Qualcomm’s pricey Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro had it not been for rising DRAM and NAND flash prices. Xiaomi, which has always announced its premium smartphones sporting the top-end silicon first, is starting to feel this weight on its shoulders. On top of that, the transition to TSMC’s 2nm process for this year’s chipsets isn’t going to be cheap, so in light of all these factors, a new rumor is doing the rounds, claiming that Xiaomi’s entire flagship smartphone lineup may only be equipped with the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 or Dimensity 9600.

Xiaomi may only reserve the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro for its highly premium ‘Ultra’ variant

While the exact price of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro hasn’t been mentioned anywhere, a separate rumor mentioned that the majority of Android flagships will ship with the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, with the ‘Pro’ version reserved for the ultra-premium offerings due to its high price. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s estimated cost is said to be $280, so that should give you a better idea of what to expect from flagship SoCs arriving later this year.

On Weibo, Digital Chat Station mentions that Xiaomi’s base model, Pro, and Pro Max variants are expected to launch in September, with none of them shipping with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro. However, assuming you forgot, the Xiaomi 18 Ultra may also be a part of the lineup, and given that it is treated with the best-in-class specifications, we have reason to believe that it will exclusively ship with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro.

Qualcomm has previously been rumored by the tipster Fixed-focus digital cameras to provide specifications flexibility to its partners, as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro can be configured with older LPDDR5X RAM instead of LPDDR6. The problem is that even this perk may not entice Xiaomi to use the latest and greatest silicon because of rising wafer and memory costs.

The smartphone industry is a ruthless one, and even though Xiaomi has established itself as a leading player, it isn’t immune to global component shortages that will force its margins to nosedive. There are some notable differences between the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro and the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen, such as increased cache and a faster GPU compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, the high costs associated with this silicon don’t make it a favorable choice.

We expect other Chinese players to adopt the same strategy as Xiaomi, and if you want to learn more about the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, be sure to check out our in-depth roundup.

News Source: Digital Chat Station

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