Driven by solid performance in India, Latin America and Europe, Samsung has become the third-largest smartphone application processor vendor globally in 2019, pushing Apple to the fourth position, according to a new report from Counterpoint Research. Samsung and HiSilicon (Huawei) were the only vendors in the top five to see positive share growth in 2019.
"Samsung's focus to be competitive in both price and performance seems to have paid off. However, Samsung's outsourcing of some A-series smartphone manufacturing to Chinese ODMs since last year will drive some share gains for Qualcomm and Mediatek," Jene Park, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research, said in a statement this week.
"Further, the proliferation of 5G smartphones in the US and China will increase Samsung's dependence on Qualcomm chipsets in its flagship and high-tier smartphones in the region," Park said.
Despite a 1.6 per cent decline through the year, Qualcomm maintained its solid top spot ranking, accounting for one-third of smartphone application processor shipments in 2019.
Qualcomm enjoyed shares exceeding 30 per cent in all markets except Middle East & Africa (MEA), where lower demand for high-end smartphones tempered demand for Qualcomm chipsets in comparison to other markets. MediaTek also saw slight share declines in 2019 but maintained its second-place position.
Continued strong performance in markets like MEA, India, and Southeast Asia -- driven by demand for low-to-mid-end smartphones -- helped the company to grab one-quarter market share of global smartphone application processor sales.
Huawei's (HiSilicon) share declined in many markets outside China due to the US trade ban, but the manufacturer offset these issues by significantly expanding presence and share domestically, said the report. Samsung performed particularly well in Europe, India and Latin America, and its share increased in other regions as well.
"Samsung Electronics increased in many markets, especially North America and India, resulting in a 2.2 per cent YoY (year-over-year) increase globally in a declining market," Park said.
"We estimate that Samsung's overall share of the smartphone application processor is estimated to grow further in 2020," said Shobhit Srivastava, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research.
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