MediaTek lost glory as Qualcomm gained smartphone processor market share

Research firm Strategy Analytics has released the smartphone apps processor market share of Qualcomm, Apple, MediaTek, Samsung LSI and HiSilicon in 2017.
Smartphone AP revenue 2017
The report said the global smartphone Applications Processor (AP) market dropped 5 percent to $20.2 billion in 2017.

Qualcomm, Apple, MediaTek, Samsung LSI and HiSilicon are the leading global smartphone applications processor (AP) companies in 2017.

Qualcomm added smartphone apps processor market share in 2017 because of lack of focus by MediaTek. Qualcomm’s smartphone apps processor market share was 42 percent.

Apple has 22 percent share in the worldwide smartphone apps processor market in 2017, said Strategy Analytics.

MediaTek, the third largest vendor, has 15 percent share of the smartphone apps processor market.

Strategy Analytics estimates that 64-bit smartphone AP shipments grew 15 percent in 2017 and accounted for 88 percent of total smartphone AP shipments in 2017 against 38 percent in 2016.

Apple, HiSilicon, Qualcomm and Samsung LSI clocked shipment growth in smartphone AP segment in 2017.

MediaTek and Spreadtrum posted drop in shipments of smartphone AP.

Over 250 million smartphone APs shipped with native AI engines to enable machine learning (ML) applications such as 3D face detection, image recognition and Animoji.

TSMC manufactured two-thirds of smartphone APs in 2017, down from almost three-fourths in 2016. Despite the loss of Apple foundry business to TSMC, Samsung Foundry gained share in smartphone APs, helped by Qualcomm and Samsung LSI.

10 nm smartphone APs accounted for over 14 percent of total smartphone AP shipments in 2017, driven by Apple, HiSilicon, Qualcomm and Samsung LSI.

The report said octa-core chips accounted for over 40 percent of total smartphone AP shipments in 2017.

Smartphone AP shipments and revenue of MediaTek and Spreadtrum decline sharply for the first time in the last five years due to slow roadmap progress and decline in 3G Aps demand. MediaTek and Spreadtrum have lost share in the key Chinese market.

“2018 will be a crucial year for both MediaTek and Spreadtrum,” said Sravan Kundojjala, associate director at Strategy Analytics.

Qualcomm added smartphone AP market share and returned to shipment growth in 2017 despite vertical competition from both HiSilicon and Samsung LSI.

Qualcomm’s AP Snapdragon 835 and mid-range 600-series of APs gained strong acceptance in 2017 among smartphone OEMs.

Qualcomm – powered by Snapdragon 600 series — gained significant share from Chinese OEMs including Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi at the expense of MediaTek in 2017.

HiSilicon and Samsung LSI expanded their product portfolio to cover multiple price points and registered a double-digit captive shipment growth in 2017.