Qualcomm’s Product Price Increase: A Double-Edged Sword for Its QTL Revenue
July 25, 2026
According to a Bloomberg report, Qualcomm has notified clients of a price increase on its chip products, effective this September, and these price increases will be passed on to smartphones and consumer electronics. The price surge may weigh on smartphone sales and impact the revenue of Qualcomm’s patent licensing division QTL, creating a double-edged sword.
On one side, for smartphones with an ASP between $150 and $270 from brands like Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, etc. Qualcomm can get a little more patent fees as phone prices go up. However, licensing fees for premium smartphones priced above $400 will not be affected by Qualcomm’s chip price increase.
On the other side, smartphone vendors are cutting shipment targets and production capacity, which will hit a larger negative impact on Qualcomm’s licensing revenue. In addition, while Qualcomm’s chips remain irreplaceable for high-end devices, many smartphone makers may shift more orders to MediaTek and Unisoc chips to cut costs, further weakening Qualcomm’s chip-patent bundling advantage.
Burdened with higher chip expenses and patent fees, Chinese smartphone brands (excluding steadily growing manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung) will likely step up efforts to negotiate lower patent licensing fees with Qualcomm.
PRIP Research has added up Qualcomm’s annual QTL revenue over the past 26 years. The company has accumulated $115.3 billion in patent licensing revenue. Compared to Qualcomm’s cumulative R&D investment of $110 billion (official website) since its founding in 1985, the licensing income generates a slight surplus. The patent system strongly fuels Qualcomm’s sustained research and development work.
With more than $110B invested in research and development since the company's inception - and nearly 20% of revenues invested annually in R&D since 2006 - Qualcomm's commitment to innovation is moving the entire wireless industry forward.
