Chipset Market Status Update: Executive Summary – May 2021
Introduction
In the past year, the market for cellular modem chipsets has evolved quickly, with 5G chipsets in particular becoming more widely available. In fact, the number of discrete 5G modems more than doubled in 2020 and the number of 5G processors/platforms grew nine-fold! That trend has continued with a 30% growth in the number of processors/platforms during 2021 and a 40% growth in the number of modems.
GSA’s online GAMBoD database now includes the ability to search for chipsets and selected features by company and by chipset type. This paper highlights the current state of the cellular modem chipset market based on the data in the database.
The focus of this report is discrete cellular modem chipsets, as well as mobile processors, SoCs and platforms (only those containing modems) used in devices with LTE (and 5G) connectivity, plus chipsets designed for devices using 3GPP-defined IoT technologies.
Note that we do not collate information on separate baseband processors, DSP chips or separate RF front-end transceivers, nor silicon designed primarily for base stations used as network infrastructure. However, we do include chipsets designed for enterprise and residential small cells and FWA applications, as these can be considered devices (femtocells are included in the GAMBoD database). Nor do we track reference designs for complete platforms or discrete components where the vendor is not involved beyond creation of IP for licensing.
5G silicon status
There is an increasing choice of chipset for 5G devices, with products commercially available from Hi-Silicon (Huawei), Mediatek, Qualcomm, Samsung and Tsinghua Unigroup (UNISOC [formerly Spreadtrum]).
All five players have been expanding their product ranges.
By May 2021, GSA had identified 35 commercially available 5G mobile processors/platforms and 14 commercially available discrete 5G modems from the five semi-conductor companies mentioned above. In addition, GSA had identified five pre-commercial 5G modems and four pre-commercial 5G processors/platforms.
Chipset Market Status Update: Executive Summary – May 2021
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