2016/02/18 Strategy Analytics: Baseband Revenue Declines 5 Percent in 2015

LTE Basebands Were the Only Bright Spot Accounting for Three-Fourths of Total Revenues

Boston, MA - February 16, 2016 - The global cellular baseband processor market declined 5 percent year-over-year to reach $21.1 billion in 2015, according to Strategy Analytics’ Handset Component Technologies service.

Click here for this report: http://sa-link.cc/X7

According to this Strategy Analytics report Qualcomm, MediaTek, Spreadtrum, Samsung LSI, and HiSilicon captured the top-five baseband revenue share spots in 2015. 

Some of the highlights include:

·         Qualcomm maintained its baseband market share leadership with 59 percent revenue share in 2015, down from 66 percent in 2014. MediaTek and Spreadtrum ranked number two and three with 20 percent and 6 percent revenue shares, respectively in 2015.

·         LTE baseband shipments reached over 1 billion in 2015 and registered strong double-digit growth while 2G and 3G baseband shipments declined significantly.

·         Qualcomm’s LTE unit share dropped to 63 percent as competitors MediaTek, Samsung LSI, HiSilicon, Spreadtrum, and Leadcore all improved their LTE shipments.

Sravan Kundojjala, Associate Director, commented, “Qualcomm, the baseband market leader, faced significant challenges in 2015, especially in the high-end as the company had less success with its Snapdragon 800 series of chips in 2015 compared to 2014. However, Qualcomm’s mid-range chips and slim modems performed well and featured in several high volume devices in 2015 which helped Qualcomm to maintain volume. Strategy Analytics predicts a better year for Qualcomm in 2016 compared to 2015 as Qualcomm’s refreshed high-end and mid-range products are likely to fuel growth, especially the Snapdragon 820.”

According to Stuart Robinson, Executive Director of the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service, “MediaTek’s LTE shipments registered over 400 percent year-over-year growth in 2015 compared to 2014, helped by MediaTek’s strong presence in China and its strong 64-bit mid-range product portfolio. MediaTek, however, faced challenges from Spreadtrum in its more profitable 3G baseband business. Strategy Analytics predicts continued momentum for MediaTek in LTE basebands, but these growing shipments are likely to cut into MediaTek’s margins in 2016, thanks to high costs and price competition.”

Christopher Taylor, Director of the Strategy Analytics RF & Wireless Components service, added, “Samsung LSI, HiSilicon, Spreadtrum, and Leadcore all made good progress in LTE basebands in 2015. HiSilicon and Samsung LSI benefited from their traction at their respective in-house customers in 2015 at the expense of merchant baseband companies such as Qualcomm, while Leadcore benefited from its design-win at Xiaomi. Intel, on the other hand, is still waiting for a high volume LTE design-win as the company continues to invest significantly in baseband technologies.”
Source: Strategy Analytics