The cellular baseband market grew 23.3 percent to $8.15 billion in Q3 2021, a new all-time record for the market.
Qualcomm and MediaTek gained baseband share, driven by 5G momentum. An increased mix of 5G helped the baseband market post 32 percent growth in average selling prices (ASP). 5G basebands capture 70 percent revenue share. Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung LSI, Unisoc and Intel captured the top-five cellular baseband revenue share spots in Q3 2021.
Qualcomm maintained its baseband market share leadership with a 55 percent revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 29 percent and Samsung LSI with 9 percent.
5G basebands accounted for 70 percent of total baseband revenue in Q3 2021.
For the fourth straight quarter, Qualcomm shipped more than 100 million 5G basebands in Q3 2021. The company prioritized premium and high-tier basebands due to capacity constraints, and this move paid off. Qualcomm’s baseband revenue grew 57 percent year-on-year in Q3 2021.
MediaTek’s 5G Dimensity baseband shipments grew three-fold in Q3 2021, thanks to its broad Chinese customer base. The increased mix of 5G basebands helped MediaTek register 60 percent growth in its baseband ASPs. Unisoc posted 74 percent growth in its LTE shipments, driven by competitive products and tier-1 design-wins.
Strategy Analytics believes that Unisoc is primed to take LTE share from MediaTek in 2022 as the latter shifts its focus to 5G.
