A new report from Strategy Analytics reveals that the global market for application processors (AP) grew by 21 percent year-on-year to $6.8 billion in the first quarter of this year, i.e. Q1 20201.

Qualcomm led the smartphone with a 40 percent revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 26 percent. Apple stood third with a 20 percent share in the market. Samsung LSI and Huawei HiSilicon complete the list of top five vendors.

The report adds that 5G application processors accounted for 41 percent of the total smartphone APs shipped in Q1 2021. Among them, entry-level 5G APs are sought after, such as Snapdragon 480 and Dimensity 700, which will help phone makers to bring the 5G connectivity to lower price tiers.

Qualcomm and MediaTek benefited the most with the forced exit of HiSilicon from the market due to several trade restrictions. Both companies gained double-digit shipment growth in Q1 2021. On the other hand, HiSilicon‘s smartphone AP shipments declined 88 percent in the same timeframe, per Strategy Analytics’ estimates.

Apple, Samsung LSI, and Unisoc also witnessed growth in shipments as well as revenue in the first quarter. With the increase in demand post-pandemic and new technologies like 5G, the growth momentum is expected to continue throughout this year.

Huawei has already sold off Honor to make it an independent brand so that it doesn’t have to adhere to the trade restrictions and can continue to grow. Now, it remains to be seen if Huawei will spin-off HiSilicon into an independent chip business.

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