Qualcomm Dominates Revenue Share in Cellular Basebands

Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung LSI, Unisoc and Intel captured the top-five cellular baseband revenue share spots in the second quarter of  2021, according to Strategy Analytics. HiSilicon, on the other hand, saw its shipments decline 82 percent during the quarter, thanks to trade sanctions.

Qualcomm led the baseband market with a 52 percent revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 30 percent and Samsung LSI with 10 percent. 5G basebands accounted for almost two-thirds of baseband revenue in the period. Cellular IoT baseband players Sequans and Nordic Semiconductor took a hit due to supply constraints in Q2 2021 but are poised to grow significantly in 2022.

"Qualcomm led the 5G baseband market with a 68 percent unit share, despite increased competition from MediaTek. For the third straight quarter, Qualcomm shipped over 100 million 5G basebands in 2Q21, thanks to its strong relationships with smartphone OEMs and semiconductor foundries. Strategy Analytics believes that Qualcomm's 5G-driven growth story will continue through the rest of 2021 and 2022," said Sravan Kundojjala, author of the report and Associate Director of Handset Component Technologies service at Strategy Analytics.

"MediaTek more than doubled its baseband revenue in Q2 2021 as its 5G Dimensity chips continued to gain traction. However, strategy Analytics believes that MediaTek's growth momentum will slow down in 2H 2021 compared to 1H 2021, driven by capacity constraints. Unisoc, on the other hand, saw its LTE shipments jump 169 percent during the quarter, driven by competitive Tiger-branded portfolio," added Christopher Taylor, Director of the Strategy Analytics RF & Wireless Components service.