5G modem and processor shipments surge

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Data from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) shows that shipments of 5G discrete modems more than doubled last year compared with the previous 12 months, while sales of mobile processors increased tenfold over the same period.

According to the survey, as of this month, there are 29 commercial 5G mobile processors/platforms and 11 commercial discrete 5G modems on the market.

(Source: GSA)

In the past, this analysis has been an excellent indicator of the technology contained in mobile devices and the volume shipped.

GSA said there are five significant suppliers of 5G chipsets: Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, Huawei (Hi-Silicon) and Tsinghua Group (UNISOC, formerly Spreadtrum).

All five companies are said to be expanding their product ranges.

The survey also identified 29 commercial 5G mobile processors/platforms and 11 commercial discrete 5G modems provided by the above chip companies. The association also identified one pre-commercial modem and three pre-commercial processors/platforms for the fast-growing 5G market, but did not disclose the company's name.

The January 2021 survey also shows that for LTE silicon, excluding 5G chipsets that will also support LTE, there are 19 commercial discrete cellular LTE modem chipsets from five suppliers: Qualcomm, Hi-Silicon, Samsung and Tsinghua, as well as Sanechips (formerly ZTE Microelectronics).

Of course, there are other modems available, but these are integrated with other processors in various mobile platforms.

Of course, the largest chipset category in the GSA database is LTE mobile processors/platforms. In fact, the database shows 178 commercially available products - excluding those designed specifically for IoT applications and not including those that support 5G.

Suppliers include GCT, Hi-Silicon, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Sequans, Samsung, Leadcore, Sony Semiconductor Israel (formerly Altair) Tsinghua, Innofidei, and Xiaomi.

GSA also tracks the market for some specific LTE features. For example, the report states that as of January 2021, there are 17 processors/platforms and discrete cellular modems that support VoLTE and eMBMS (LTE broadcast/multicast), and 5 that support LTE in unlicensed spectrum.

The survey noted that there are other mobile processors/platforms in the pipeline, notably from Qualcomm, GCT and Tsinghua, but these were not included in the analysis.

It should be noted that GSA does not track baseband processors, DSPs, or separate RF front-end transceivers, nor does it track silicon designed specifically for base stations.

However, the database does include chipsets targeted at enterprise and residential small cells, as well as chipsets for fixed wireless applications, as these are classified as devices.

Commenting on the update, GSA Chairman Joe Barrett said the analysis was "encouraging" and that as an industry "we can only be excited about the opportunities 2021 will bring."

He also noted that the state of 5G silicon “is a good indicator of the underlying health of the broader 5G ecosystem.”