MediaTek dominates the smartphone chipset market in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Counterpoint announced that global shipments of smartphone chipsets in the fourth quarter of 2021 increased by 5% compared to the same period in 2020.
Chipsets with 5G network support accounted for almost half of the shipments.
Meanwhile, based on a Counterpoint report, MediaTek has been named the leader in chipset shipments this period.
“MediaTek leads the smartphone SoC market with a 33 percent share,” said Counterpoint Research Director Dale Gai.
"The volume of its smartphone SoC decreased in the quarter due to high shipments in the first half and inventory corrections from Chinese smartphone OEMs," he continued.
Regarding growth prospects, Gai expects revenue to grow in Q1 2022, driven by the flagship Dimensity 9000 chipset for smartphones.
Meanwhile, Senior analyst Parv Sharma commented on the performance of Qualcomm.
According to him, Qualcomm recorded outstanding growth, 18% QoQ and 33% YoY, despite the lack of components and the capacity that could not meet demand.
Qualcomm prioritized selling the high-end Snapdragons, which come with higher profitability and less downside impact, over mid-range and lower-end chipsets.
"Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 flagship mobile platform will start shipping from Q1 2022. Performance in Q1 2022 will be boosted by the presence of the Samsung Galaxy S22 series and launched in Chinese New Year," said Sharma.
“Overall, the next increase in growth will occur in the second half of 2022 with the launch of 5G handsets by major OEMs.”
“Android's share of revenue is also growing as more OEMs adopt Qualcomm's modem-to-antenna RFFE solutions at all levels,” he added.
MediaTek led the smartphone SoC market in Q4 2021 with a 33% share.
While Qualcomm grew 18%, Apple maintained its third position in the smartphone SoC market in Q4 2021 with a 21% market share.
UNISOC continued its shipment growth this year and reached an 11% share in Q4 2021.
Its SoC shipments will have more than doubled on an annual basis by 2021.