Apple's iPhone 16 has been released, and the industry is beginning to anticipate innovations in domestic mobile phones. This year, domestic mobile phones may truly shine – their performance genuinely surpasses that of the iPhone 16, but they will also come at a greater cost – higher chip prices, and no alternative choices, as MediaTek's performance has fallen significantly behind.

Foreign media reports indicate that the Snapdragon 8G4 boasts a 40% performance improvement, with single-core and multi-core scores of 3,326 and 10,049, respectively, surpassing Apple's A18 processor. Its clock speed reaches 4.3GHz, comparable to PC processors, thanks to Qualcomm's fully self-developed Oryon core, abandoning ARM's public cores.

The self-developed Oryon core originates from Nuvia, acquired by Qualcomm. Nuvia's founding team hailed from Apple's A-series processors. Due to Nuvia's exceptional self-developed architecture, Qualcomm acquired the company for $1.4 billion just two years after its establishment. Qualcomm's investment in Nuvia has proven fruitful, as evidenced by the Snapdragon 8G4's outstanding performance.

As Qualcomm's competitor, MediaTek continues to employ ARM's public cores. Rather than disclosing single-core performance, MediaTek highlights its IPC performance, which has achieved the greatest increase in history, suggesting that its high-end chips this year cannot compete with Qualcomm's in terms of performance.

This is a drawback of ARM's public cores. Due to ARM's limited capabilities, its self-developed cores, while improving annually, still lag behind Apple's A-series processors. Qualcomm's adoption of a self-developed core architecture has finally surpassed Apple. Most domestic mobile phones use Qualcomm chips, enabling them to confidently claim parity with Apple this year.

Domestic mobile phone manufacturers are undoubtedly delighted to surpass Apple, but Qualcomm won't be so generous. It has significantly raised prices, with the Snapdragon 8G4 reportedly costing $240 (approximately 1,700 RMB), a more than 20% increase over the Snapdragon 8G3's 1,400 RMB. Domestic manufacturers, with few alternatives, may grudgingly accept the price hike.

This price is exorbitant. When Qualcomm first entered the domestic mobile phone market and lagged behind Texas Instruments in market share, its chip price was just 300 RMB per unit. Over a decade later, the price has quadrupled, demonstrating Qualcomm's aggressive pricing strategy.

Qualcomm dares to continuously raise prices due to its chip technology advantages and the reliance of most Chinese mobile phone companies on its patent licenses. Three of China's top five mobile phone manufacturers have significant overseas shipments, with one company selling 70% of its phones overseas. These companies lack strong patent portfolios and rely on Qualcomm's patents, making them vulnerable to Qualcomm's pricing strategies.

Among domestic mobile phone brands, one barely sells phones domestically, focusing instead on Africa, India, and the Middle East. It primarily sold feature phones but has ventured into smartphones since last year. Qualcomm has filed patent infringement lawsuits against this company this year, which are ongoing.

This underscores Qualcomm's confidence. Even with continuous price hikes, domestic mobile phone manufacturers have little choice but to accept. This realization underscores the importance of self-developed chips for many domestic brands. However, due to various factors, only one domestic brand has developed its chip, attracting US scrutiny.

In response to Qualcomm's price hikes, some domestic mobile phone manufacturers have hinted at flagship price increases this year. This may make domestic flagship phones harder to sell, as Apple's iPhone 16 retains its starting price of 5,999 RMB. While Qualcomm's chips slightly outperform Apple's, Apple has the advantage of iOS and strong brand appeal, making price hikes for domestic phones uncertain to gain consumer acceptance.