Qualcomm is no longer the leading supplier of smartphone chipsets

Qualcomm is no longer the leading supplier of smartphone chipsets

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According to Counterpoint Research, there has been a change in the smartphone industry. During the third quarter of this year, from July to September, MediaTek overtook Qualcomm to become the largest supplier of chipsets to the smartphone industry, with a 31% market share. Counterpoint attributes MediaTek’s success to strong phone sales in the $ 100 to $ 250 price range amid strong growth in the world’s two major smartphone markets; that would be China (# 1) and India (# 2). As a developing country, Indian consumers prefer value brands, many of which use MediaTek chips over Qualcomm’s more expensive Snapdragon silicone.

MediaTek takes the crown from Qualcomm’s smartphone chipset in the third quarter

This is not to say that Qualcomm has not been able to find a sweet spot for growth in the third quarter. With 39% of the market, the chip maker is the leading supplier of 5G chipsets for phones and this is a market that doubled in the third quarter. Counterpoint says that 17% of all phones sold during the third quarter were compatible with 5G. This number is expected to increase to 33% in the current quarter, which started in October and ends at the end of the year. With strong growth in 5G shipments in the fourth quarter, Qualcomm has a chance to recover the crown MediaTek took from it.

MediaTek’s leading 31% share of the smartphone chipset market was a 19% gain over the 25% that the Taiwan-based company had last year. During the same period, Qualcomm’s share of the chipset for handsets dropped from 31% to the current 29%. Apple took third place as its A series chips, developed exclusively for its phones and tablets, conquering 12% of the market. This put Apple in a triple tie with Samsung and Huawei’s HiSilicon unit.

Contraponto’s Research Director, Dale Gai, noted that “MediaTek’s strong gain in market share in the third quarter of 2020 was due to three reasons – strong performance in the intermediate smartphone pricing segment ($ 100- $ 250) and emerging markets such as LATAM (Latin America) and MEA (Middle East and Asia), the US ban on Huawei, and finally winning in leading OEMs like Samsung, Xiaomi and Honor.The share of MediaTek chipsets in Xiaomi has increased more than three times since the same period last year. MediaTek also managed to leverage the gap created due to the US ban on Huawei. Affordable MediaTek chips manufactured by TSMC have become the first option for many OEMs to quickly fill the gap left by Huawei’s absence. Huawei had also purchased a significant amount of chipsets before the ban. “

Gai also noted that, “On the other hand, Qualcomm also recorded strong gains in participation (from a year ago) in the high quality segment in the third quarter of 2020, again thanks to HiSilicon’s supply problems. However, Qualcomm faced competition from MediaTek in the mid – end segment. We believe that both will continue to compete intensively through aggressive pricing and conventional 5G SoC products in 2021. “

Counterpoint Research analyst Ankit Malhotra added: “Qualcomm and MediaTek reorganized their portfolios and consumer focus played a key role here. Last year, MediaTek launched a new game-based G series, while Dimensity chipsets helped bring 5G to affordable categories. The world’s cheapest 5G device, the realme V3, is powered by MediaTek. Using its crystal ball to look to the future, Malhotra said: “The immediate focus of chipset vendors will be to bring 5G for the masses, who then unlock the potential of 5G use cases for consumers, such as cloud games, which in turn will lead to greater demand for higher clocked GPUs and more powerful processors. Qualcomm and MediaTek will continue to strive for the top spot. “

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