How Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, MediaTek and others fared in mobile chipset market in Q4 2021

Chipmaker MediaTek emerged as the leader of the smartphone SoC market in Q4 2021 with a market share of 33%, as per a report by Counterpoint Research. The report adds that MediaTek’s smartphone SoC volumes fell in the quarter “due to the high shipments in the first half and inventory corrections from Chinese smartphone OEMs.”
Qualcomm gained the second place with 30% market share, with an 18% growth due to the premium segment and dual-sourcing from foundries, as per the report. With a 76% share, Qualcomm dominated the 5G baseband modem shipments, with the iPhone 13 and 12 series and premium Android portfolio being the major boosters
Apple came on third with 21% share in the smartphone SoC market in Q4 2021, the shipments buoyed by the iPhone 13 launch and the festive sales. UNISOC got 11% share in Q4 2021, continuing with its growth, with more than double SoC shipments in 2021. Its customer base also widened as it got brands like Samsung, Motorola, ZTE, Realme, Honor and Transsion on board.
Samsung Exynos came in fifth with just 4% shares, suffering as the South Korean smartphone maker is restructuring its smartphone portfolio strategy of “in-sourcing as well as outsourcing to Chinese ODMs.” MediaTek and Qualcomm, meanwhile, have risen and have captured big segments of the market share, with MediaTek benefiting from Samsung’s own mid-range 4G and 5G smartphones