Strategy Analytics: Qualcomm Dominates the Baseband Market with 800+ Million Shipments in 2021

The global cellular baseband processor market posted 19.5 percent to $31.4 billion in 2021, according to Strategy Analytics' Handset Component Technologies (HCT) service report. According to this Strategy Analytics' Handset Component Technologies (HCT) research report, "Baseband Market Share Tracker Q4 2021: Qualcomm and MediaTek Together Capture 95 Percent Share in 5G," Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung LSI, Unisoc and Intel captured the top-five revenue share rankings in the baseband market in 2021.

•    Qualcomm led the baseband market with a 56 percent revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 28 percent and Samsung LSI with 7 percent

•    MediaTek, Qualcomm and Unisoc gained market share while Intel, HiSilicon and Samsung LSI lost share

•    5G baseband revenues grew 71 percent year-over-year, accounting for 66 percent of total baseband revenue in 2021

•    Cellular IoT baseband vendors ASR Microelectronics, Nordic Semiconductor, Sequans and Sony (Altair) gained significant traction despite wafer constraints. ASR Microelectronics posted almost four-fold shipment growth.

Sravan Kundojjala, author of the report and director of HCT service at Strategy Analytics, commented, "Qualcomm shipped 800+ million basebands in 2021 and ranked number one in both units’ revenue terms. The iPhone 13 lineup featured the X60 modem, helping Qualcomm gain volume. In addition, the company established itself as the market leader in the premium and high tier Android devices with its Snapdragon 8 and 7 series of chips. Qualcomm also gained significant traction in non-handset segments such as automotive, IoT, cellular tablets, fixed wireless access and other applications with its diverse portfolio of baseband chips."

Kundojjala continued, "MediaTek more than tripled its 5G baseband shipments in 2021, thanks to its design wins at Samsung and Chinese OEMs. The company also focused on the mid-range and low-end LTE market and gained market share over Qualcomm in smartphones. Unisoc, on the other hand, regained LTE share with the help of an improved product portfolio and design wins at tier-one smartphone OEMs. Strategy Analytics believes that Unisoc has the potential to gain further LTE share as the company has a proven track record in capturing share in mature technologies."

According to Christopher Taylor, director of the Strategy Analytics RF & Wireless Components service, "HiSilicon took a hit as trade sanctions affected its shipments, leaving its market share to Qualcomm and MediaTek. On the other hand, Samsung LSI lost 4G LTE and 5G baseband share as its primary customer Samsung Mobile sourced more from Qualcomm, MediaTek and Unisoc."