The revenue of cellular baseband processors, which power smartphones, fell 4 percent to $21.2 billion in 2017, according to Strategy Analytics.
Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung LSI, HiSilicon and Spreadtrum are the top revenue market share leaders in the cellular baseband processor market in 2017.
Intel ranked number six, narrowly behind Spreadtrum.
The US-based Qualcomm, the market leader, increased its baseband revenue share to 53 percent in 2017. MediaTek, the second largest technology company in the baseband space, has 16 percent revenue share.
Samsung LSI has 12 percent of the baseband revenue share.
Strategy Analytics estimates that all baseband segments declined excluding the 4G / LTE baseband segment.
Baseband vendors such as Qualcomm, Samsung LSI and HiSilicon achieved year-on-year shipment growth in 2017. But MediaTek and Spreadtrum have lost share in the worldwide baseband segment.
The report said baseband vendors pursued new opportunities such as LTE feature phones and cellular IoT applications in 2017.
Smaller baseband companies including Altair Semiconductor, GCT Semiconductor, Nordic Semiconductor and Sequans Communications are focusing on cellular IoT segment.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm’s baseband business achieved growth in 2017 after facing drop in shipments in the two consecutive years.
Qualcomm finished 2017 on a strong note as the technology company’s relationships with Chinese manufacturers helped. The strong growth for Qualcomm is despite challenge from HiSilicon, Intel and Samsung.
Sravan Kundojjala, associate director at Strategy Analytics, said: “Qualcomm gigabit-class LTE chips including the Snapdragon 835 featured in multiple high volume handsets in 2017 and the company continues to push the envelope with advanced modem features.”
Both MediaTek and Spreadtrum lost market share in 2017 because they could not accelerate their LTE product roadmaps through innovation. A sharp decline in 3G baseband chips added problems to MediaTek and Spreadtrum.
“MediaTek is seeking a product-led comeback with cost-competitive and feature rich LTE chips such as Helio P60,” Stuart Robinson, executive director of Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service, said.
Spreadtrum is pursuing the fast growing LTE feature phone segment and is also renewing its LTE smartphone chip effort to improve its volume.
HiSilicon, Intel and Samsung LSI registered double-digit LTE baseband shipment growth in 2017 despite drawing almost 100 percent of shipments from a single customer.
The US-based Intel, with its Apple iPhone design-wins, achieved double-digit LTE baseband shipment growth in 2017.
“Intel has sustained two generations of iPhone design-wins and is well placed to continue its iPhone momentum with gigabit LTE chips in 2018,” Christopher Taylor, director of the Strategy Analytics RF & Wireless Components service, said.
