MediaTek’s lead over Qualcomm shrinks dramatically
MediaTek had a 33% market share during the last quarter of 2021 which was down from the 37% it garnered during the fourth quarter of 2020. Counterpoint said that MediaTek’s shipments dropped in Q4 because smartphone manufacturers had been ordering more chips than needed during most of the year just in case the chip shortage prevented them from obtaining the amount of components needed.
MediaTek’s market share lead over Qualcomm dropped sharply during the fourth quarter of 2021
But for the most part, this turned out not to be an issue and when the fourth quarter arrived, manufacturers went through an inventory correction ordering fewer chipsets compared to the amount ordered at the beginning of 2021. The Dimensity 9000 chip helped MediaTek keep its position as the largest shipper of chipsets to smartphone manufacturers. Counterpoint also cited heavy demand for 5G handsets as a reason for MediaTek’s strong showing, and it expects another strong year in 2022 for the company as more consumers buy 5G phones.
Qualcomm dominates the 5G baseband modem market
Qualcomm dominated the 5G baseband modem market during the fourth quarter of 2021
As a result, Huawei has been forced to use 4G Qualcomm Snapdragon chips for some of its flagship phones. This was reflected in Counterpoint’s data which shows Huawei’s HiSilicon unit with a 7% share of AP chipset shipments in the fourth quarter of 2020 dropping to just 1% during the fourth quarter of 2021.
