The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) announced that the number of discrete 5G modems more than doubled during 2020 and that the number of 5G processors increased ninefold. By January 2021, GSA had identified 29 commercially available 5G mobile processors/platforms and 11 commercially available discrete 5G modems from five different semi-conductor companies. In addition, GSA had identified one pre-commercial 5G modem and three pre-commercial 5G processors/platforms.
The new LTE, 5G & 3GPP IoT Chipset Report not only indicates a steady growth of 5G modems during 2020 but also reveals an expanding choice of LTE and 3GPP IoT chipsets. GSA has identified 36 chipsets designed specifically to address M2M and IoT applications and supporting any of LTE Cat-1, Cat-M1 and Cat-NB1/NB2 user equipment. Commercially launched LTE mobile processors/platforms comprise the largest category of chipsets in the GSA database; GSA has counted 178 (other than those specifically designed for IoT applications and excluding those capable of 5G) from 11 vendors: GCT, Hi-Silicon, Innofidei, Leadcore, MediaTek, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sequans, Sony Semiconductor Israel (formerly Altair Semiconductor), Tsinghua Unigroup (UNISOC, and formerly Spreadtrum) and Xiaomi.
A full list of commercially available and pre-commercial 5G mobile processors/platforms and discrete 5G modems is available in GSA’s GAMBoD database, updated January 2021.
“5G silicon status is a great indicator of the underlying health of the wider 5G ecosystem. The fact that the number of discrete 5G modems more than doubled in 2020 alone and that the number of 5G processors increased ninefold is a great milestone for the 5G ecosystem,” commented Joe Barrett, president of GSA. “These figures are encouraging and as an industry, we can only be excited about the opportunities that 2021 will bring. The Global mobile Suppliers Association will continue to track every evolution regarding chipsets and modems in the GAMBoD Chipset database to help the industry gain insights into the development of the chipset and modem market.”
The GSA GAMBoD Chipset database is a global resource containing the latest data on 4G and 5G chipsets and their commercial status; it is a unique search and analysis tool that has been developed to enable searches of LTE and 5G devices and new global data on mobile broadband networks, technologies and spectrum. The addition of the GAMBoD Chipset database further extends the breadth and depth of mobile ecosystem data now available.