According to Strategy Analytics, the wireless chip maker Qualcomm is leading the smartphone applications processor market with a revenue share of 42 per cent, in the third quarter of 2012.
Qualcomm?s 28 nm-based long-term-evolution Snapdragon processors have helped Qualcomm to widen its technology lead over other players. However, Qualcomm faced increased competition in the Android ecosystem from integrated processor vendors like Broadcom, MediaTek, Spreadtrum and ST-Ericsson in third quarter of 2012. Strategy Analytics estimates that Qualcomm?s share in the Android ecosystem declined from over 60 per cent in early 2011 to about 35 per cent in the third quarter of 2012. However, the company has a lot of scope for growth in this segment as less than 50 per cent of Qualcomm?s chipsets are smartphone applications processors.
As per the research firm, Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek, Broadcom and ST-Ericsson emerged as the top five companies in the smartphone applications processor market in the third quarter of 2012. Samsung ranked number two with 27 per cent revenue share.
MediaTek ranked number three with 12 per cent revenue share in the smartphone applications processor market by powering EDGE, UMTS and TD-SCDMA applications processors. As per the research firm, MediaTek?s smartphone applications processor shipments registered a ten-fold (year-over-year) growth in the third quarter of 2012. The company is following an integrated strategy to break into global smartphone manufacturers? supply chains.
Broadcom ranked number four as it continues to provide chips to low-end Samsung smartphones running on the Android-based operating system. ST-Ericsson was ranked fifth as the company?s dual-core NovaThor processors gained strong traction with Sony and Samsung powering their handsets with the company?s chips in the third quarter of 2012.
However, in 2012 Texas Instruments failed to feature in the top five smartphone applications processor list as it continues to retrench from the handset processor market. Further, NVIDIA?s smartphone market share remained flat on year-over-year basis during the period under consideration. NVIDIA?s up-coming LTE-integrated Tegra processors is expected to contribute to the company?s growth in 2013.
Another player Spreadtrum registered significant growth in the smartphone applications processor market in the third quarter of 2012 garnering a revenue market share of 1.7 per cent with the help of EDGE and TD-SCDMA smartphone applications processors. Intel registered lower growth with a revenue market share of 0.2 percent in the smartphone applications processor market. According to Strategy Analytics the smartphone applications processor market was worth $3.8 billion registering a year-on-year growth of 58 per cent in the third quarter of 2012.
