News Article
Qualcomm continues to dominate share of smartphone applications
According to Strategy Analytics, both Qualcomm and Samsung registered triple-digit unit shipment growth in 2010, despite their contrasting approaches to the smartphone applications processor market.
Smartphone applications processor revenue showed 77 percent year-over-year growth to reach $4.52 billion in 2010, according to, “Smartphone Apps Processor Market Share: Qualcomm’s Revenue Share Reached 41 Percent in 2010”, from Strategy Analytics’ Handset Component Technologies service.
This 2010 market surge helped most applications processor vendors grow in terms of both revenue and unit volume.
Qualcomm led the overall applications processor market with 41 % revenue share, followed by TI with 27 % and Samsung with 19 %. Also, the baseband-integrated applications processors continued to gain share, accounting for 74 percent of total 2010 smartphone applications processor revenues.
“Strategy Analytics recognises Qualcomm as a top-tier supplier in the smartphone applications processor market in 2010, due to its active participation in the multiple software ecosystems and its highly integrated Snapdragon processors,” noted Stuart Robinson, Director of the Handset Component Technologies service.
He added, “In our view, Qualcomm has a two-to-three year advantage over most of its competitors in terms of integration; and is ideally situated for further share gains from on-going radio technology shifts, such as HSPA+ and LTE.”
“With strengthening product portfolios and increasing competition, 2011 is shaping into an interesting year for the applications processor market,” commented Sravan Kundojjala, Senior Analyst. “According to Strategy Analytics, applications processor vendors should build competitive barriers by investing in integration, graphics processing technologies, multi-core processors and software expertise. Otherwise, they risk becoming commoditised, since the entry barrier is relatively low for new vendors to enter into the ARM-based chip ecosystem.”
