SA:Q1 Qualcomm leads the baseband market with 59.5% share, and the iPhone 14 / Pro series is expected to help it grow further.

CTOnews.com Sept. 1, Strategy Analytics today released its baseband chip report for the first quarter of 2021, with baseband revenue up 20 per cent to $8.8 billion (about 60.72 billion yuan) and unit shipments down 6 per cent.

5G baseband revenue grew by 47% in the first quarter, while shipments and revenue from the rest of the baseband business declined.

According to Strategy Analytics, Qualcomm firmly occupies the first place in the baseband chip market with 59.5%, MediaTek ranks second with 26.7%, and Samsung LSI ranks third with 5.8%.

▼ diagram from Strategy Analytics

CTOnews.com learned that Strategy Analytics believes Samsung and Apple will be Qualcomm's biggest baseband customers. With the widespread shipments of the iPhone 14 / Pro series in the second half of the year, Qualcomm's share is expected to continue to increase.

MediaTek's baseband revenue grew by 28% in the first quarter, but Tianji 9000 shipments were less than 1 million, and inventory pressure is expected in the second half of the year.

Samsung LSI is even worse, with the high end being grabbed by Qualcomm and the middle and low end by MediaTek and Ziguang, which is expected to reach the lowest level in eight years this year.

In addition, Ziguang's baseband income increased by 80%.