Date: 29/11/2010

Market forecast: Mobile phone semiconductor market to grow by 12% in 2013

The total revenue delivered by handset semiconductor shipments is forecast to increase approximately 5.5% this year, says ABI Research, and the trend is expected to continue through the next three years, resulting in a total estimated revenue growth of 12% in 2013.

Industry Analyst Celia Bo notes, "The increasing shipment rates of handset processors and connectivity chips are the major engines driving handset semiconductor market growth."

Qualcomm, MediaTek, and TI are rated as leading vendors in the overall mobile phone chipset market with a shipment share of 80%. Qualcomm is rated as number one vendor in high-end smartphone market. ABI also predicts qualcomm to maintain its number one position in the mobile phone semiconductor market for years to come.

ABI says the majority of MediaTek's shipments are 2.5G and 2.75G chipsets for the company's low-cost solution. MediaTek is set to continue gaining a greater share of the low- to mid-priced chipset market. TI has been gradually stepping out of the 2.5G and 2.75G chipset market since the end of 2008, with shipments expected to decline in 2010 and virtually cease in 2012, according to ABI analysis.

"Connectivity chips will play a critical role in driving handset semiconductor market growth in the next five years," adds ABI Research principal analyst Peter Cooney. "The total revenue from handset Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi chipsets is forecast to grow more than 15% this year, and estimated to hit US$3.5 billion in 2015."

Between the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, ABI says:
Bluetooth has the highest attach rate compared to other connectivity chips: its average penetration rate is expected to be 55% in 2010. The penetration rate of GPS is expected to be 23% this year, and will keep increasing in the next five years to reach 45% in 2015. The revenue increase from Wi-Fi chips will be the highest among the three connectivity chips over the next five years, estimated to reach US$1.4 billion in 2015, a 14% CAGR between 2010 and 2015.