Snapdragon chips are the most famous, but they are no longer the majority in the 2020 smartphone landscape.
For many years now, Qualcomm has been one of the most prominent brands in the small world of smartphones. Based in San Diego, the company has managed to impose its Snapdragons on many manufacturers at both the very high end and the entry level. However, according to figures published by the analysis and research firm Omdia, quoted by DigiTimes, Qualcomm is no longer the leader of the cell phone market.
Omdia first of all underlines the remarkable progress recorded during the year 2020 by MediaTek. The Taiwanese company would have sold more than 351 million SoCs in 2020 - system on a chip - against 238 million in 2019. In fact, the increase over one year is estimated at +47.8% and it logically leads to a substantial increase in market share of the group based in Hsinchu: from 17.2% to 27.2% in the space of only twelve months. This makes it the new number one in the sector.
To achieve this performance, MediaTek has been able to count on the support of some big names in the smartphone industry, starting with Xiaomi, which has distributed 63.7 million smartphones powered by MediaTek components. It is logically the first partner of MediaTek and therefore takes this "privileged" place to OPPO, which was its main customer in 2019: OPPO has distributed "only" 55.3 million terminals equipped MediaTek. Finally, Samsung completes the MediaTek "podium" with 43.3 million smartphones based on MediaTek SoCs.
The Taiwanese company seems to have managed to win thanks to the quality / price ratio of its components, whose performance is not so far from Qualcomm's Snapdragon, while being significantly cheaper. In addition, MediaTek has taken advantage of the craze for 5G, on which it clearly has the least expensive solutions. It is also interesting to note that MediaTek is the new number one in volume: if we take the indicator of revenue generated, Qualcomm remains far ahead, thanks to the higher margins on the high-end.
