Image: Realme
MediaTek was able to increase its market share for smartphone SoCs and application processors in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the second quarter of the previous year from 26 to 43 percent and thus overtake Qualcomm, whose market share fell from 28 to 24 percent in the same period.
With an unchanged 14 percent market share, Apple follows in third place, while HiSilicon has fallen from 16 to only 3 percent because Huawei was no longer able to manufacture the Kirin SoCs due to US trade restrictions. Samsung’s market share also fell from 12 to 7 percent, but this is mainly due to the fact that the company relies on Qualcomm and MediaTek as SoC suppliers for more smartphones. Unisoc’s growth, on the other hand, is due to the use of its own SoCs by Honor, Realme and Motorola and the increased acceptance of these processors in China.
Market shares for smartphone SoCs in Q2 2021 (Image: Counterpoint Research)
Qualcomm could have sold more
Above all, MediaTek benefited from fewer delivery restrictions and delays, which, together with a low chip yield, would have hit Qualcomm harder in the first half of 2021. The company was able to rely on a good yield from the contract manufacturer TSMC for both cheap 5G and the mid-range 4G SoCs that are still important in MediaTek’s portfolio. Qualcomm has now responded to the delivery bottlenecks with adapted procurement via several foundries. With a larger share of production at TSMC, Qualcomm is expected to be able to increase SoC shipments again.
When it comes to 5G, Qualcomm is at the forefront
Overall, the market for smartphone SoCs grew by 31 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, which can be attributed in particular to the growth in the 5G area and the pandemic-related lower sales in the second quarter of 2020, according to Counterpoint Research. Sales of 5G smartphones have quadrupled year-on-year. Qualcomm continues to dominate the 5G modem business with a market share of 55 percent – not least due to the company’s use of a 5G modem in Apple’s iPhone 12 series.
5G modem market shares in Q2 2021 (Image: Counterpoint Research)
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