Despite Global Chip Shortage, Qualcomm Shows Massive Growth

Qualcomm and MediaTek are the two major smartphone chip manufacturers in 2022; where Qualcomm is still leading the premium smartphone segment, but MediaTek is also catching up with their premium Dimensity 9000 series.

MediaTek had the upper hand in the Android smartphone SoC market in 2021 with over 44% shares, compared to Qualcomm’s 35% shares, according to a research conducted by Counterpoint’s Global Headset Model Sales Tracker.

But in the first quarter of 2022, Qualcomm took over the crown by showing its third consecutive quarterly revenue at $11.6 billion, and it recorded an annual growth of between 28% and 61%.

The main reason for this growth would be Qualcomm’s focus on the premium smartphone segment. The primary volume-driven tool for Qualcomm is its flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen1 which most Android smartphone manufacturers use in their flagship devices.

Furthermore, Qualcomm has managed to gain a 75% share of the shipment of Samsung’s Galaxy S22 series, which is considered the main driving force behind this massive revenue growth. The Galaxy series is one of the top-selling smartphones throughout the globe.

The rise of MediaTek

Qualcomm and MediaTek have shown massive growth in their chipset shipment and revenue. MediaTek has recorded an impressive 32% year-on-year revenue growth that helped bring in $4.8 billion.

MediaTek is also dominating the lower-end segment of the Android smartphone industry with its Dimensity 700 and 900 series, which can be alarming news for Qualcomm as in countries like India low-mid ties segment captures a huge chunk of the smartphones industry.

If MediaTek manages to disrupt this segment with its aggressive pricing. It can severely hurt Qualcomm’s business, leading to losing the crown.

In recent news, we have also heard that the flagship chipset by Qualcomm, i.e., Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, is facing Sevier heating and throttling issues that lead several manufacturers to underclock the chipset which is majorly affecting the performance of the device.

On the other hand, MediaTek’s flagship processor Dimensity 9000 series is receiving praise due to its superior thermal control system and massive performance boost, which in many cases is beating the overall performance of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

So, we might see MediaTek leading the flagship segment in the future if Qualcomm fails to counter this issue.