Despite Market Skewing by Samsung and Apple, Mobile Device Platforms Trending Toward More Integration

There are many trends that affect the market for mobile device semiconductors, many of which overlap and occur at the same time. ABI Research recently examined two such trends in its “Smartphone Application Processors – Cores, Integration, and Architecture Options” and “Integrated Platforms and Reference Designs for Smartphones” reports.

According to ABI, the first trend is the definite shift towards multi-core application processors. This can be seen in the fact that, in the first half of 2013, the global multi-core smartphone applications processor (MCSPAP) market more than doubled in year-on-year growth.   

The second trend, meanwhile, is the growth of x86 and Microprocessors without Interlocked Pipeline Stages (MIPS). This comes from the addition of heterogeneous processing functionality and 64-bit processors for mobile devices.

According to ABI, because the revenue of standalone components is folding into integrated platforms, the trend towards more integrated platforms is becoming more crucial. The revenue for mobile device semiconductors lies with higher cost components, most notably the application processor.

ABI finds that the following will transpire in the next two years:

• 2014 will see the number of integrated platforms shipped surpass standalone application processors
• 2015 will see more integrated platforms with wireless connectivity shipping. This will supersede both integrated platforms without wireless connectivity and standalone application processors
• The end of 2015 will see more mobile device semiconductor vendors adding integrated platforms to their product portfolios

The report indicates that about a third of all smartphones shipped so far this year have been based on a reference design, and this number is expected to increase over the next five years. The report suggests that reference designs will comprise about 75 percent of smartphones shipped at the end of this year alone.

You have to exclude Samsung and Apple, however. The problem is that the large market share that both Samsung and Apple have tends to skew the actual trends in the addressable market that have an effect on semiconductor vendors.

ABI goes on to report that even if companies do off all three major components – application processor, mobile baseband processor, and wireless connectivity baseband – they will acquire smaller semiconductor vendors who can shore up their weak points in creating a range of integrated platforms.

It seems that the companies who do want to remain competitive in the mobile space will have to offer the major components as an integrated platform with reference deigns available. ABI suspects that under these conditions, even Samsung and Apple are likely to move towards integrated platforms for their own devices.