Every year, tech reviewers position the latest chip as much better than the old one, and the same thing happens next year, and the next. The Snapdragon 8 Elite was better than the Gen 3, which was better than the Gen 2, and so on.
If the “flagship” chips are so good, why not just stop to save cost? Why upgrade the chipset every year with minimal gains?
If everyone stuck with the same generation of chip, smartphones could be cheaper (good for consumers) OR profit margins could be increased (good for companies). Or maybe a mix of both.
What drives the yearly update in chips? AI maybe?
Companies like to make money. Cell phone makers do it by selling phones. By always having something newer and better they create more demand than if they only sell the same old thing, even if it was good enough. This way, they encourage people to buy phones before their old one is broken or out of service simply because they believe they are getting something better. If they just let people believe last year’s model is still good enough, fewer people will decide they need to upgrade and they won’t sell as many.