Massive 84% growth of 5G application processors for smart phones in 2021

Riding on the wave of 5G, covid pandemic induced mobile digital life, smart phone usage has grown significantly in 2021. The global sales of smartphones in year 2021 grew by 6%, as per Gartner. It is observed in the industry that a small growth in smart phones results in large growth of semiconductor market for smartphones. The estimation by market researcher Strategy Analytics tells exactly that, where it finds global smartphone applications processor (AP) market grew 23 percent to $30.8 billion in 2021. The key findings shared by Strategy Analytics on this market include: Qualcomm, MediaTek, Apple, Samsung LSI and Unisoc grabbed the top-five revenue share ranking spots in the smartphone applications processor (AP) market in 2021. Qualcomm maintained its smartphone AP leadership with a 38 percent revenue share, followed by MediaTek and Apple with each 26 percent. Apple, MediaTek, Qualcomm and Unisoc gained market share while HiSilicon and Samsung LSI lost share. 5G-attached AP shipments grew 84 percent year-over-year, accounting for 46 percent of total smartphone Aps shipped in 2021. Shipments of Aps with on-device artificial intelligence (AI) engines crossed 900 million in 2021, roughly flat compared to 2020. However, increased shipments of mid-range Aps without AI engines limited the growth. Top-selling Android AI Aps include Snapdragon 888/888+, 765/G, ...