Broadcom breaks into smartphone processor top five

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Broadcom breaks into smartphone processor top five

Chipmaker ousts Nvidia from top rank according to report, on the back of its increasing Android efforts

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 8 December, 2011

READ MORE: Metrics | Broadcom | Processor | Android

Broadcom's Android efforts of recent years are paying off as the company edges into the top five for mobile apps processors for the first time, largely on the back of the Google devices.

According to new estimates from research firm Strategy Analytics, Broadcom is now better placed than before to be a credible challenger to market leader Qualcomm. The smaller firm is dominant in broadband and in-home chips and has transferred its strengths in Wi-Fi and other connectivity standards to the handset. But it has been less successful in penetrating the heart of the handset, the processor/modem combination, despite acquisitions like that of 4G baseband maker Beceem.

Broadcom suffered a setback when it gained a valuable slot with Nokia but then saw that generate limited sales because of the Finnish vendor's own troubles and its conversion to WP7 - currently supported only by Qualcomm and, soon, ST-Ericsson. Such trends pushed Broadcom to focus more heavily on Android and this is starting to boost its mobile fortunes.

The new report found that the total smartphone app processor market grew by 59% year-on-year in the third quarter to hit $2.24bn. In terms of unit shipments, Qualcomm led the market, followed by Samsung, Texas Instruments, Marvell and then Broadcom, the last of these ousting Nvidia, whose Tegra product is shining in high end tablets but has been less successful in high volume smartphones.

"Thanks to the ramp-up of its Android business, Broadcom finally broke into the top five vendor list for smartphone applications processors in Q3 2011," said Strategy Analytics handset components service director Stuart Robinson, in a statement. "Strategy Analytics continues to believe that Broadcom has the potential to be a strong competitor to Qualcomm in the long term, given the company's integration capabilities, cellular IP strength and strong emphasis on wireless markets."

Although both Qualcomm and Broadcom are particularly strong in integrated processor/modem SoCs, standalone apps processors outgrew these devices in the quarter, denoting the growth in top end gadgets with heavy duty performance requiring a dedicated chip. Standalone products accounted for 41% of the market in Q3, compared to 31% a year earlier. However, integrated approaches are likely to gain sway again as mass market smartphones become more common, with their pressure to reduce power, cost and space. Processor makers have been buying baseband specialists to address this need - Intel acquired Infineon Wireless and Nvidia snapped up Icera, for instance. However, Qualcomm has also been playing more significantly in the standalone space, selling Snapdragon in some cases without integrated modem.