David Imel / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Mediatek has reportedly extended its lead over Qualcomm in terms of smartphone SoC shipments.
- Counterpoint’s Q2 2021 data shows that it has a 43% share of the market compared to Qualcomm’s 24%.
Mediatek made headlines earlier this year after it emerged that the Taiwanese chip designer led the way for chipset shipments in 2020. Now, Counterpoint Research has posted its Q2 2021 results for processor shipments, and it looks like Mediatek has reached new heights.
According to the tracking firm, Mediatek gained a 43% share of the global smartphone SoC market in Q2 2021 compared to a 35% share in Q1 2021. Meanwhile, chip colossus Qualcomm accounted for 24% market share compared to 29% in the previous quarter.
Counterpoint noted that Mediatek’s growth was due to the company focusing on mid-range to low-end 5G chipsets as well as LTE SoCs. Qualcomm’s performance was reportedly due to it being more adversely affected by the industry-wide chip shortage as well as lower yields.
The research firm did however report that Qualcomm accounts for a 55% share of the 5G baseband modem market compared to Mediatek’s 30%. Both are up from 29% and 11% respectively a year ago.
Mediatek has traditionally excelled at the mid-range and budget chipset segments, but Qualcomm’s processors are usually the go-to choice for major brands at the flagship level. It seems like this is the next segment to target for the Taiwanese firm, as it told journalists earlier this year that it would be offering flagship-level processors that are “pushing the technology envelope.”
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