Over the past few months, we've continuously heard of chipset shortages driving top smartphone makers up the wall. Most were battling time to either get their devices into the hands of eager consumers or busy diverting SoCs into their flagships from other products.
However, now we have research claiming that year-on-year global chipset shipments grew 6% during the third quarter of 2021. Counterpoint Research says 5G phone SoCs growth doubled during the period under review.
The report said MediaTek led the smartphone SoC market with a 40% share, driven by a competitive 5G SoC and high demand for the 4G chipsets. Its revenues showed a sequential growth as the mix of mid-end and high-end processor portfolios grew during the period.
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Counterpoint Research Director Dale Gai believes that the blended ASP will continue to increase due to the launch of flagship products in the first quarter of 2022 and an increase in chipset prices starting Q4 2021. The 4G chipsets showed strong demand due to the ongoing shortages, which have affected 4G SoCs more.
On the other hand, close competitor Qualcomm reported a growth in shipments at both the quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year levels in the third quarter. The key to this growth was its ability to dual-source manufacturing of key components such as the Snapdragon 800 series of SoCs and the premium 5G modem.
Research Analyst Parv Sharma says Qualcomm led the 5G baseband market with a 62% share. It gained from the 5G baseband modem chipset win in the Apple iPhone 13 series and demand for its complete 5G SoC chipsets, from the flagship 8 series to affordable 4 series. MediaTek also saw strong momentum from the Dimensity 700 and 800 series in the low-mid segment.”
Here's how they stacked up in Q3 of 2021
- MediaTek dominated the smartphone SoC market in Q3 2021 with a 40% share. It gained share in the low-mid segment 5G portfolio. LTE SoCs further helped it to strengthen its market position.
- Qualcomm grew 9% sequentially due to dual sourcing from foundries. It dominated the 5G baseband modem shipments with a 62% share. The refreshed portfolio in the Snapdragon 7, 6 and 4 series will further help it gain share in Q4 2021.
- Apple maintained third position in the smartphone SoC market in Q3 2021 with a 15% share. With the launch of the iPhone 13 and festive season, its share will grow further in Q4 2021. However, component shortages will affect its festive season sales.
- UNISOC shipment growth continued for the third consecutive quarter in Q3 2021. Its market share entered double digits during the quarter at 10%. The company has succeeded in expanding its customer base, securing a series of design wins with major OEMs like HONOR, Realme, Motorola, ZTE and Transsion. Further, it also had a design win in Samsung’s Galaxy A series.
- Samsung Exynos slipped to the fifth position with a 5% share as it is in the middle of rejigging its smartphone portfolio strategy of in-sourcing as well as outsourcing to Chinese ODMs. Therefore, the share of MediaTek and Qualcomm has been growing across Samsung’s smartphone portfolio, from the mid-range 4G and 5G models manufactured by ODMs to the flagship ones.
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