Qualcomm, MediaTek and Intel Together Held Three-Fourths of Cellular Baseband Revenue Share in 1H 2012

Qualcomm Leads With 51 Percent Revenue Share

Boston, MA - November 7, 2012 – Global cellular baseband processor market registered an impressive 15 percent year-over-year growth in 1H 2012 to reach $8.1 billion, according to the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service report, “Baseband Market Share Tracker: 2G Momentum Helps Intel Maintain Third Place with 12 Percent Revenue Share in Q2 2012.”

According to Strategy Analytics, Qualcomm topped the cellular baseband market with 51 percent revenue share in the first half of 2012 on the strength of its leading position in CDMA, W-CDMA and LTE basebands.

Some of the highlights of this Strategy Analytics report include:

• Qualcomm, MediaTek, Intel, Broadcom and ST-Ericsson captured top-five revenue share rankings in the cellular baseband processor market in 1H 2012.
• MediaTek ranked number two with 12.8 percent revenue share in the cellular baseband market in 1H 2012 with the help of its strong 3G smartphone processor shipments.
• Intel grabbed the number three spot with 12.1 percent revenue share in the cellular baseband market in 1H 2012 as the company’s strong 2G baseband shipments significantly helped during the quarter.
•  Broadcom continued to improve its product-mix and ranked number four in the cellular baseband market in 1H 2012. Broadcom’s 3G baseband shipments showed over 600 percent year-over-year growth in 1H 2012.
• LTE baseband shipments registered the highest year-over-year growth among all air interface technologies in 1H 2012 while GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA and iDEN baseband shipments declined during the same period.

According to Sravan Kundojjala, Senior Analyst, “Intel ranked number two in the W-CDMA market in the first half of 2012, behind Qualcomm. The company has scored multiple high-profile W-CDMA design-wins at tier-one handset manufacturers in 1H 2012. Strategy Analytics believes Intel's upcoming first LTE baseband platform, XMM7060, has the potential to cut into Qualcomm's LTE baseband lead in future.”

According to Stuart Robinson, Director of the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service, “MediaTek and Spreadtrum together accounted for 54 percent of total GSM/GPRS/EDGE baseband shipments in the first half of 2012. MediaTek and Spreadrum’s basebands have been adopted by multiple tier-one handset vendors, a testament to their growing influence in the baseband market. Strategy Analytics believes that MediaTek and Spreadtrum are well-positioned to further their success in 3G and 4G basebands.”