MediaTek continues to dominate the global smartphone chipset market in the first quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, Qualcomm holds the second position, followed by Apple, UNISOC, Samsung, and Huawei Hisilicon.
According to data from Counterpoint Research (via Gizmochina), MediaTek holds a 32% market share in the global smartphone Application Processor (AP) industry during Q1 2023. While MediaTek has been leading for the past six quarters, its market share has been decreasing for three consecutive quarters. In the same quarter last year, MediaTek held a market share of 36%.
Year-over-year, MediaTek also experienced an 11% decrease in market share. This is attributed to inventory adjustments and a weakened market demand in recent years. It is expected to continue into Q2 2023, with the shipment decline of LTE SoCs believed to be larger than 5%, while the growth of 5G SoCs is not expected to exceed 5%.
Qualcomm holds the second position with a 28% share in the first three months of this year. This is an increase for them as they previously held the third position with a 19% market share, below Apple. Now, Apple has dropped back to the third position with a 26% share, followed by UNISOC (8%), Samsung (4%), and HiSilicon (<1%).
The competition between MediaTek and Qualcomm is evident in the smartphone industry. Qualcomm is often regarded as having superior chipsets compared to MediaTek, and smartphones with Snapdragon processors usually come with higher price tags.
However, thanks to its dominance in the mid-range and budget segments, MediaTek has a larger market share. Additionally, in recent years, Qualcomm has been more focused on developing chipsets for the high-end segment.
