MediaTek is unveiling its next flagship chipset, the Dimensity 9400, on October 9. Then, only a few days later, Qualcomm will take the wraps off its Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 (which may be called Snapdragon 8 Elite instead). For the next year, these will be the premier chipsets for Android devices, and a lot of smartphone makers have recently had to make the very tough choice of figuring out which to go with for their upcoming devices.
That decision may or may not have been in part influenced by pricing. According to prolific Chinese leakster Digital Chat Station, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is substantially more expensive than its MediaTek counterpart.
DCS says the Dimensity 9400 can be had for about $155, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 costs a whopping $190. These are orientative prices, by the way, some smartphone makers may be able to negotiate significantly better amounts based on how many they order.
The Snapdragon is over 20% more expensive, and for a lot of devices that could make a difference in their very pricing. The two upcoming SoCs are both rumored to be absolute beasts in terms of performance, easily surpassing any other chipset that's ever been made for Android devices.
Whether they manage to outshine even Apple's A18 series remains to be seen, however. It's also still unclear how they will perform compared to each other, but we're sure a lot more benchmark runs will be leaking in the next few days, so stay tuned.
Source (in Chinese)