Strategy Analytics: Dual-Core Processors Power nearly 20 Percent of Smartphones in 2011; Samsung Leads with 60 Percent Volume Share
Dual-core processors, which power ultra high-end smartphones, gained strong traction in 2011, accounting for nearly 20 percent of total smartphone applications processors shipped, according to a new report entitled “Smartphone Multi-Core Apps Processor Market Share: Samsung Leads with 60 Percent Volume Share in 2011” from the Strategy Analytics’ Handset Component Technologies (HCT) service.
This Strategy Analytics research reveals that Samsung led the dual-core smartphone applications processor market in 2011, with 60 percent volume share, followed by Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and NVIDIA. Samsung’s success in dual-core processors can be attributed to its strong sales supplying silicon for Apple’s wildly popular iOS devices as well as in offerings from Samsung’s own Mobile Handset Division.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm captured 16 percent volume share in the dual-core smartphone applications processor market in 2011 on the strength of its dual-core Snapdragon applications processor products MSM8x60 and APQ8060.
Stand-alone applications processors accounted for 90 percent of total dual-cores shipped in 2011. Single-core applications processors are much more likely to be integrated – 72 percent of total single-core processor chips shipped were integrated with baseband applications processors in 2011.
Sravan Kundojjala, Senior Analyst, comments that Strategy Analytics would advise NVIDIA to focus on high volume tier-one design-wins in 2012 in order to maintain its first-mover advantage with quad-core processors. NVIDIA, whose Tegra 2 smartphone shipments declined 8 percent at the end of 2011- compared to shipments in the first half of the year – lost momentum, despite being early to market with dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processors.
According to Stuart Robinson, Director of the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service, “Qualcomm captured 16 percent volume share in the dual-core smartphone applications processor market in 2011 on the strength of its dual-core Snapdragon applications processor products MSM8x60 and APQ8060.” Robinson adds that: “Strategy Analytics believes that Qualcomm is well-positioned to make significant share gains in 2012 with the help of its LTE-integrated dual-core Snapdragon processor MSM8960.”
Mr. Kundojjala observes that Strategy Analytics anticipates dual-core applications processor penetration into mainstream smartphones will accelerate through 2012 and into 2013, and new ARM architectures such as Cortex-A5 will help dual-core penetrate entry-level smartphones at the start of 2013.
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