According to Strategy Analytics, Qualcomm led the mobile baseband market with market share of 59 per cent in the first quarter of 2013.
Intel and MediaTek were ranked second and third with market shares of 12 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. The research firm adds that the global mobile baseband processor market reached $4.6 billion registering a year-on-year growth of 18.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2013.
In terms of revenue market share, the top five players in the market included Qualcomm, Intel, MediaTek, ST-Ericsson, and Spreadtrum. Qualcomm?s share in the mobile baseband market increased to 59 per cent in the period under review as the company capitalised on its early-mover advantage in long term evolution (LTE) basebands. Strategy Analytics estimates that Qualcomm captured 97 per cent revenue share in the LTE mobile association with leading global handset vendors.
The low-cost 2G mobile baseband specialists MediaTek, RDA Microelectronics and Spreadtrum together captured over one-third of unit shipment share in the first quarter of 2013. The market research firm adds that the global mobile baseband market entered a new growth cycle owing to encouraging uptake of LTE in smartphones, emerging markets and non-handset mobile devices. Going forward, Qualcomm and Samsung face increasing competition in the LTE segment from Intel and Broadcom and several small LTE baseband vendors including Sequans, Altair, GCT Semiconductor and u-Blox.
