While it’s expected that makers of flagship-class phones use the latest and greatest in mobile chipsets, it’s not all that unusual of some brands give it a pass. The Nothing Phone (2) immediately comes to mind, even if it’s not necessarily a flagship-level device as most would consider it. Though an industry leakster is claiming that it may become more common next year, due to the high price of the next top tier chipset.
Digital Chat Station has claimed on Weibo that the price of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will be high enough to deter phone makers from using it. In fact, they also claim that brand may instead opt to keep using the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, or even a competing MediaTek Dimensity chipset instead especially for their standard versions.
That does leave the window for the latest and greatest for other additional models with the various suffixes out there, like the Pro, Plus, Max, Ultimate or Ultra, among others. It may also mean a larger price gap between the base models and these bigger and better models, that latter bit possibly no longer being just a figure of speech.
The price gaps between flagship variants are already pretty substantial as it is. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S23 launched with a starting price of RM3,899, with the Plus and Ultra models starting from RM4,699 and RM5,699, respectively. Should things unfold as the leakster claims, the gap could get even wider next year. Of course, as with any other leak, it’s better to take it with a pinch of salt for now.
(Source: Weibo)
