[Maui, United States = DigitalToday reporter Suk Daegeon] Qualcomm is looking for ways to reduce the cost burden of Snapdragon PCs as memory prices rise. Running agentic AI on a PC requires DRAM and storage above a certain capacity, increasing manufacturers' cost pressure. Qualcomm plans to support manufacturers by expanding DRAM capacity and supplier options and optimising software.

Nitin Kumar (니틴 쿠마르), vice president of product management at Qualcomm, said at the Snapdragon Summit 2026 Compute media roundtable held on Sept. 23 local time in Maui, Hawaii, that the current industry situation, especially DRAM and storage prices, is quite difficult. He added that delivering certain agentic AI experiences also requires RAM and storage of a certain size.

It is not easy to reduce memory capacity to run agentic AI on a PC that handles multi-step tasks on behalf of a user. The rise in memory prices is seen as feeding into manufacturing costs and consumer prices for AI PCs.

Kumar said the burden may not end in the short term. Asked how long the memory price situation will last, he said it is very difficult to predict and could last for several quarters or longer. He said market conditions are changing quickly and multiple variables are affecting the industry overall, some of which Qualcomm cannot control. Since Qualcomm cannot directly move memory prices, the remaining task is to assess what measures it can provide so manufacturers can endure this period.

To that end, Qualcomm is first expanding DRAM options manufacturers can choose from on the supply chain side. Kumar said it is working closely with OEMs and DRAM partners so the Snapdragon X series can support DRAM of different capacities and from different suppliers. The aim is to help manufacturers procure memory to fit current supply and price conditions without being tied to a specific capacity or supplier.

Qualcomm concluded that the best option in a memory bottleneck is software optimisation. Qualcomm, together with Microsoft and manufacturers, is optimising the software stack so it runs efficiently at any DRAM capacity. The goal is to maintain the AI PC experience across products at different price points while using memory from multiple suppliers. Some partners have launched 8GB memory models as part of that response. Kumar called the launch of 8GB models a measure to help partners and said it will respond together with partners no matter how long the situation lasts.

◆Full stack through entry-level Snapdragon C... Expanding PC price bands amid cost pressure

Qualcomm has also expanded product lines across price points. After entering the PC market with the premium Snapdragon X Elite, it added the X Plus and Snapdragon X in sequence, and this year released the second-generation X2 Elite, X2 Elite Extreme and X2 Plus, along with the Snapdragon C series for entry-level PCs.

Kumar said it started with premium but now has a full stack through the Snapdragon C dedicated to entry-level devices. He said the goal of Snapdragon X is to deliver performance, battery life and AI experiences to as many users as possible. With memory cost pressure increasing, manufacturers are seen as having more room to choose platforms suited to their price points.

Devices equipped with Snapdragon C will soon come to market. Kumar said that after Acer, HP and Lenovo announced Snapdragon C-based products at IFA earlier this month. He said he expects devices to come out within a few weeks, or within the next quarter. If products announced by Acer, HP and Lenovo are released, Snapdragon PCs are expected to expand their selling price range to include entry-level models. Kumar said South Korea is a very important core market and that it will support manufacturers with priority so they can launch flagship devices in South Korea.