Several reports have indicated that Samsung’s next-gen flagships, the Galaxy S25 series, will be more expensive than their predecessors. The price hike is largely attributed to the higher costs of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is rumored to power the phones globally. And if ARM has its way against Qualcomm, the new Galaxy flagships could be a substantial price increase.
ARM wants more royalty from Qualcomm, threatens to cancel license
ARM is a SoftBank-owned British company known for its Cortex-branded CPU core designs. It licenses these designs to chipmakers globally, including Qualcomm. These two firms have worked closely together for many years, but their relations turned sour after the latter acquired Nuvia in 2021. The acquisition helped Qualcomm develop high-performance ARM-based PC processors.
Nuvia assisted in developing the Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips, which have custom Oryon CPU cores that utilize the ARMv8.7 instruction set. In the meantime, ARM said that Qualcomm’s acquisition “caused Nuvia to breach its ARM licenses.” It sued the company demanding that it destroy any CPU designs that Nuvia had created using ARM instruction sets before the acquisition.
Qualcomm seemingly didn’t agree as it went on to introduce the Oryon cores to its mobile chipset, the newly launched Snapdragon 8 Elite that will power Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series. ARM has had enough and is taking the drastic step of canceling its longstanding licensing agreement with Qualcomm, effectively blocking the latter from designing chipsets based on ARM’s technologies and standards.
ARM is unhappy because Qualcomm’s switching to Oryon cores affected its income. Earlier, Qualcomm used “semi-custom” Kryo CPU cores largely based on ARM’s Cortex series. As such, it paid ARM for the licensing of its instruction set as well as the Cortex CPU design. But with Oryon cores developed with the help of Nuvia, Qualcomm only pays ARM a royalty for its instruction set.
Qualcomm has 60 days to agree to ARM’s demands
Documents seen by Bloomberg reveal that ARM has given Qualcomm 60 days of notice. The chipmaker must agree to a new licensing deal or risk losing access to ARM’s valuable CPU technologies. Qualcomm, meanwhile, believes it hasn’t breached any agreements with the British company. It plans to find ARM in the court — ARM’s 2022 lawsuit against Qualcomm goes to trial later this year.
“This is more of the same from ARM – more unfounded threats designed to strongarm a longtime partner, interfere with our performance-leading CPUs, and increase royalty rates regardless of the broad rights under our architecture license,” Qualcomm said. “With a trial fast approaching in December, ARM’s desperate ploy appears to be an attempt to disrupt the legal process, and its claim for termination is completely baseless.”
If ARM wins the battle, Galaxy S25 could be more expensive
Rumors suggest Qualcomm is increasing the price of its Snapdragon 8 Elite. The hike could be too steep for Samsung to consume, effectively making the Galaxy S25 more expensive. The Korean media says the new Galaxy flagships will see a “double-digit” price increase. If true, the base model could cost nearly $900 — the Galaxy S24 series starts at $800. It could be an even bigger hike if ARM wins the battle against Qualcomm.
The CPU designer wants Qualcomm to pay a higher royalty for using its technologies in the Snapdragon 8 Elite. If the chipmaker obliges, expect it to charge even more for the new processor, adding to the Galaxy S25’s manufacturing cost. We should get a clearer picture closer to the launch in January. If you plan to buy the phones, our Galaxy S25 mystery box program is live. Sign up now to be eligible for free accessories.
