The price of 4G mobile chips will rise instead of fall in the second half of 2021

As mobile chip suppliers focus more on 5G solutions, the supply of 4G smartphone chips is shrinking. According to industry insiders, due to supply constraints, the prices of 4G mobile chips will rise in the second half of this year, while the prices of 5G chips will fall.

Chip developers including MediaTek, Qualcomm, Unisoc, Xiaomi and OPPO have begun promoting their latest 5G mobile chips. Among them, MediaTek and Qualcomm have fully upgraded their 5G chip product lineups to cover all different market segments.

As a result, due to the lack of sufficient support from wafer foundries, the supply of 4G chips continues to shrink and their prices continue to rise.

Sources from Chinese mobile phone ODMs also pointed out that demand for 5G smartphones in mature markets remains strong, and annual shipments of 5G smartphones in the terminal market are expected to double in the next 2-3 years.

As many emerging markets still mainly run 4G networks, and 4G smartphones and related chip solutions now enjoy higher profit margins than before, the profit margins of 4G chips have the opportunity to surpass those of 5G chips in 2021.