Smartphone Apps Processor Revenue Soared 60 Percent in 2012

Apple, Qualcomm and Samsung Dominated

Boston, MA - May 10, 2013 - Global smartphone applications processor market showed a robust 60 percent year-on-year growth in 2012 to reach $12.9 billion, according to the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service report, "Smartphone Apps Processor Market Share 2012: Apple, Qualcomm and Samsung Together Capture 70 Percent Revenue Share." This report provides smartphone applications processor unit shipments, revenues and average selling price (ASP) data for 16 chip vendors across stand-alone and integrated processor categories up to 2Q 2013.

According to this Strategy Analytics report, Qualcomm maintained its lead in the smartphone applications processor market with 43 percent revenue share in 2012. Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors gained acceptance across multiple smartphone price tiers and helped Qualcomm to maintain its number one spot.

Some of the highlights of this Strategy Analytics report:

Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, MediaTek and Broadcom captured the top-five revenue share rankings in the smartphone applications processor market in 2012.
Qualcomm captured 43 percent revenue share on the strength of its strong relationships with global handset manufacturers and broad product portfolio.
Apple ranked number two with 16 percent revenue share in 2012, thanks to its in-house designed A series processors, which featured in popular smartphones including the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5.
Samsung ranked number three with 11 percent revenue share in 2012. Samsung's Exynos applications processors featured in high-profile devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S III and Note II.
MediaTek grabbed the number four spot in revenue share terms in 2012 as the company's integrated processors gained strong traction in low-to-mid range smartphones.
Broadcom ranked number five with the help of its Samsung relationship. Broadcom's applications processors featured in multiple low-end Android smartphones from Samsung in 2012.
Freescale, Marvell, Renesas Mobile and Texas Instruments showed negative growth in 2012 while ST-Ericsson and Spreadtrum registered significant growth.
NVIDIA's Tegra shipments remained relatively flat growth in 2012 compared to 2011. However, NVIDIA's upcoming Tegra4i LTE chip will enable NVIDIA to go after high volume markets.
Intel, the PC microprocessor giant, grabbed just 0.2 percent revenue share in the smartphone applications processor market in 2012. Intel's upcoming Clover Trail+ dual-core x86 Atom chip could help in 2013.

According to Sravan Kundojjala, Senior Analyst, "Qualcomm continued its dominance in the smartphone applications processor market with 43 percent revenue share in 2012. Qualcomm strongly participated in the high-end market in 2012 with its LTE Snapdragon processors and APQ series stand-alone processors. Strategy Analytics believes that the year 2012 saw Qualcomm's rise as a high-end player in the smartphone applications processor market, thanks to its in-house CPU and graphics technologies. The new Snapdragon 600 and 800 chips will help Qualcomm move further ahead of the competition."

According to Stuart Robinson, Director of the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service, "Strategy Analytics notes that the applications processor market is increasingly bifurcating with vertical vendors like Apple and Samsung designing their own chip on the one hand and merchant vendors like Qualcomm and MediaTek supplying to multiple customers on the other hand. Strategy Analytics estimates that the vertical vendors grabbed over one-fourth of the applications processor market in revenue terms in 2012. However, there is plenty of opportunity for vendors such as Qualcomm, MediaTek, Broadcom and Nvidia to drive the technology hard and gain share."