MediaTek surpasses Qualcomm: it is the world's first smartphone chipset manufacturer

Source: HW Upgrade added 29th Dec 2020

  • mediatek-surpasses-qualcomm:-it-is-the-world's-first-smartphone-chipset-manufacturer

The Taiwanese company in the third quarter del 2020 has overtaken its historical competitor Qualcomm, making it the world’s first smartphone chip maker. Here are the data collected by counterpoint research

by Lorenzo Tirotta published , at 01: 01 in the Telephony channel

MediaTek Qualcomm HiSilicon Apple Samsung

MediaTek in third quarter of 2020 made one historic overtaking on the US colossus Qualcomm . For years the two manufacturers have been competing for the smartphone processor market, with a total percentage to date of 60% on the whole market. Qualcomm has always been one step ahead of MediaTek, but in recent years the Taiwanese company has seen its market share grow by 5% each year , catching up and overtaking Qualcomm. The data made and published by Counterpoint Reasarch there show the percentage difference between the third quarter (Q3) of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020 .

Mediatek and Qualcomm: two giants compared

MediaTek recorded in one year an increase of 5% passing from 26% in Q3 2019 to the 31% in Q3 2020. Reverse situation for Qualcomm who had a annual decrease of 2% passing from 31% in Q3 2019 to the 29% in Q3 2020. Apple , Samsung and HiSlicon the following seats are played respectively with a share of 12% . Data in hand, the brand MediaTek has become the world’s leading manufacturer of smartphone chipsets . According to the Counterpoint report, the lead won’t last long. Qualcomm could recover the top spot already in the last quarter of 2020, in light of the fact that the demand for 5G smartphones increased by 17% in the third quarter 2020, and will grow in the future. MediaTek said it will partner with many brands to provide mid and high-end 5G devices with new processors Dimensity .

However, Qualcomm remains the first manufacturer and supplier of 5G chips with a percentage of 37% . The reasons that led to this sensational overtaking are many. MediaTek has certainly benefited from the increase in sales from brands such as Xiaomi , Honor e Samsung especially in India, Latin America and Middle East where the devices of low-end have a larger market. The data shows how the number of MediaTek chipsets used in Xiaomi devices is tripled compared to the third quarter 2019 . According to research director Dale Gai , along with the increase in sales of cheap smartphones, complicit in the success of the Taiwanese giant is undoubtedly the block of Huawei in the US, void filled by cheap MediaTek chips.