Source: Semiconductor Industry Watch (ID: icbank)
Compiled from Counterpoint
According to a recent report from Counterpoint, global smartphone AP (application processor)/SoC (system-on-chip) chipset shipments increased 5% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2021. 5G smartphone SoCs account for almost half of total SoCs.
Dale Gai, Research Director at Counterpoint, said: "MediaTek leads the smartphone SoC market with a 33% share. Smartphone SoC sales declined in the quarter due to high shipments in the first half of the year and inventory adjustments by Chinese smartphone OEMs. Many customers have built chipset inventories to manage uncertainty in the supply situation. ”
Regarding the growth outlook, Gai added: "We expect MediaTek's first-quarter revenue to grow in 2022, driven by the flagship smartphone chipset (Dimensity 9000). Higher 5G penetration will offset lower seasonal demand. The increase in chipset prices after TSMC's wafer price increases is reflected after the fourth quarter of 2021. 5G migrations in Asia Pacific, MEA and LATAM, and ongoing LTE demand will help MediaTek achieve strong growth in 2022. ”
Smartphone AP/SoC Shipment Statistics Source: Counterpoint Research
Commenting on Qualcomm's results, Senior Analyst Parv Sharma said: "Despite component shortages and foundry capacity not being able to meet demand, Qualcomm's quarterly results were very strong, up 18% sequentially and 33% year-over-year. Qualcomm can prioritize the sales of high-end Snapdragon, which has higher profitability and less impact of shortages than low-end mobile phones. The company was also able to increase the supply of its key foundry partners by dually sourcing key products. It accounts for 76 percent of Apple's iPhone 13 and 12 series and 5G baseband shipments driven by the high-end Android portfolio. ”
Commenting on growth opportunities, Sharma added, "Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 flagship mobile platform will ship from the first quarter of 2022. The performance in the first quarter of 2022 will be driven by the Samsung Galaxy S22 series and the Lunar New Year release. Overall, with major OEMs rolling out 5G phones, the next growth inflection point will be in the second half of 2022. As more and more OEMs adopt Qualcomm's modem-to-antenna RFFE solutions across layers, Qualcomm's revenue share in the Android market is also growing. ”
Global 5G Smartphone Baseband Shipment Market Share in Q4 2020 and Q4 2021 (%)
Comparison of baseband shipments of 5G mobile phones, source: Counterpoint Research
Apple remained in third place in the smartphone SoC market with a 21% share in the fourth quarter of 2021. The launch of the iPhone 13 and the holiday season drove shipments.
It is worth noting that the shipment volume of Tsinghua Unigroup Zhanrui continues to grow this year. Statistics show that their share in the fourth quarter of 2021 reached 11%. On an annual basis, its SoC shipments more than doubled in 2021. During this time, they expanded their customer base and won orders from Honor, Realme, Motorola, ZTE, Transsion and Samsung.
According to the previous data, before in 2018, 2019 accounted for a relatively small, Zhan Rui in the mobile phone statistics were counted as "others", 2020 began to be counted separately, the market accounted for 4%, the second quarter of 2021 growth doubled, reaching 8.4%, the third quarter increased to 10%, the first time broke through double digits, the fourth quarter steadily rose to 11%.
At the end of January this year, Zhan Rui announced its 2021 operating results, with sales revenue of 11.7 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 78% year-on-year. Consumer Electronics sales revenue increased 62% year-over-year. Among them, the sales revenue of the smart machine business increased by 148% year-on-year, and the rapid development of the smart machine business shows that Zhan Rui changed the situation of the past mainly functional machines and comprehensively advanced into the era of smart machines.
Samsung Exynos slipped to fifth place with a 4 percent share as it adjusted its smartphone portfolio strategy, namely insourcing and outsourcing to Chinese ODM. As a result, MediaTek and Qualcomm's share of Samsung's smartphone portfolio has been growing, covering mid-range 4G and 5G models to flagship models manufactured by ODM.
Due to the U.S. trade ban on Huawei, HiSilicon was unable to produce Kirin chipsets. The accumulated inventory of Kirin SoCs is on the verge of being depleted. As a result, Huawei is launching its latest series based on Qualcomm SoCs, but only for 4G capabilities.
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