The global handset semiconductor market in 2010 achieved an estimated revenue jump of about 15% compared to 2009, on a shipment growth of 13%.
A report from ABI Research said between the end of 2008 and the end of 2009, smartphone shipments grew about 19%, while growth over the course of 2010 surged a further 71%. That rising smartphone demand resulted in a YoY revenue growth of 34% for application processors. Among connectivity chipsets, Wi-Fi grew 62% in the same period.
“Consistent demand for smartphones has become the major driver behind semiconductor market growth. In view of the return on investment (ROI) and the technological barriers to entry, many semiconductor vendors are contemplating merger and acquisition strategies to align their technologies for the future,” ABI Research practice director Peter Cooney, said.
The top ten application processor suppliers, including Qualcomm, TI, Samsung, Apple, and Marvell, together accounted for some 85% of all revenues for the segment in 2010.
Baseband processor revenue grew approximately 11% in 2010; the top four suppliers, Qualcomm, MediaTek, TI and ST-Ericsson together earned 82% of the total. Qualcomm led the global handset baseband market in CDMA and W-CDMA segments, while MediaTek took the top position in GSM/GPRS/EDGE and TD-SCDMA segments.