Crunch chips away Qualcomm topline as memory costs push smartphone prices higher

Qualcomm, the largest maker of smartphone processors, has become the latest casualty of the memory-chip crunch rattling the electronics industry. The company reported a 20 per cent fall in handset revenue. Chief executive Cristiano Amon said that “prices are going to go up” on the company’s products starting September 1, citing rising costs across the supply chain, not just for memory chips.

“In the short term, the entire industry continues to be impacted by unprecedented memory prices, higher manufacturing and input costs as well as supply chain shortages driven by overall data centre demand,” Amon said during the company’s latest quarterly earnings call.