The market share of smartphone processors of Qualcomm rises to 30%, but MediaTek is still in the lead. After climbing to first place, the latter is maintaining its leadership in the sector high.
While the former saw its shipments increase by 18%, the sales of the latter recorded a decline in the fourth quarter of 2021.
According to new research by Counterpointthe global smartphone AP / SoC market grew 5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021. Unsurprisingly, the demand for mobile processors for 5G devices has continued to grow and accounted for nearly half of total SoC shipments during the quarter.
MediaTek led the smartphone SoC market in the period from October to December with a share of 33%. Compared to the same period of the previous year, however, the Taiwanese giant’s market share decreased by 4%. Its shipments also decreased due to “inventory corrections”By Chinese smartphone OEMs.
Qualcomm shipments grew 18% in the fourth quarter of 2021, thanks to solid growth in the premium segment and dual-sourcing from foundries. The global market share also rose to 30% from 23% the previous year. More importantly, the chipmaker achieved a 76% share of total 5G baseband shipments, thanks to strong sales of Apple’s devices and Android flagships.
Commenting on Qualcomm’s performance in the fourth quarter, Counterpoint’s senior analyst, Parv Sharmahe has declared:
Qualcomm was able to prioritize high-end Snapdragon sales, which offer higher profitability and less impact from shortages than mid-range and low-end mobile phones. The company was also able to increase supplies from its key foundry partners with key dual-source products.
Qualcomm is expected to see similar growth in the first quarter of 2022, thanks to the design successes of the Samsung Galaxy S22 series and new flagships from Chinese Android OEMs.
Apple remained the third largest player in the global smartphone SoC market in the fourth quarter of 2021, with a market share of 21%. Unisoc took fourth position with an 11% share. Samsung Exynos slipped to fifth place due to a rejig in Samsung’s smartphone strategy and outsourcing to Chinese ODMs.
