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Qualcomm gains smartphone chip market share as MediaTek drops

At last quarter of 2021the smartphone chipset market up 5% compared to the same period in 2020, according to the consulting firm Counterpoint Research. This despite the effects caused in the sector by the shortage of components, which has had a more or less notable impact on its main vendors.

MediaTek is still your main manufacturer and seller, though has lost 4% of its quota market share, falling from 37% to 33%. However, the consultancy’s analysts believe that with its new high-end Dimensity 9000 chipset, and the expected increase in demand for 5G terminals, the company will experience a notable boost in revenue. Of course, it should also be taken into account that TSMC has recently raised the prices of its wafers, and the effects of this measure on chip prices are still beginning to be seen. But in the case of MediaTek, all forecasts point to MediaTek having a good 2022.

Qualcommwhich remains in second position in terms of market share for smartphone chips, has achieved a notable increase in market share in this sector and has reduced the distance that separated it from MediaTek: of a 23% quota market has passed 30%. This despite not being able to get as many chips from his partner factories as he would have liked. That is why the company has given priority to the high-end Snapdragon chipsets, since they generate more margins for the company. In addition, it has also managed to increase the supply of chips by increasing the number of factories from which it obtains supplies.

One area where Qualcomm is unrivaled is in 5G modems, where it has a 76% market share, up from 63% last year. This is due to the high demand for the iPhone 12 and 13, which have Qualcomm modems with Apple A chipsets. But also due to the sales of high-end models from different manufacturers of Android terminals.

Exynos chips from Samsung they were in third place as the most used until recently, even ahead of Apple chips. But Samsung’s smartphone division is reformulating its product line and this, among other things, has meant that Exynos chips have fallen to only 4% and that Samsung now occupies fifth place in market share.

Manzana It is third ranked in the list of chipmakers in terms of market share, and has lost 1% share in a year: from 22% to 21%. As to Unisoc, the fourth company in the ranking, now has 11% of the smartphone chip market share after almost tripling it in a year (in the last quarter of 2020 it had 4% of the market). It is not very surprising, since its chipsets are in several models from Honor, Realme, Motorola, ZTE and even Samsung.

But for HiSilicon things are not looking so good. Apparently the chips he had in storage are about to run out, and he also had serious problems when making new ones, especially the high-end ones. Huawei, which is in fact its biggest customer, has had to use Qualcomm chips that are only limited to 4G. The result? Go from 7% of the market share it had in the last quarter of 2020 to 1% with which it ends the year 2021.

Apparently, smartphone manufacturers have hoarded additional components than necessary as a precaution against their shortage. However, since the supply has been much more stable than expected and they had more than they needed for the period, they have lowered their purchases between October and December.

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