MediaTek emerged as the preferred chipset partner in India for smartphone makers in the first half of 2021, according to a report by Techarc.

Out of a total of 117 smartphones launched in India in the first half of this year, 54 smartphone models were powered by a MediaTek system on a chip (SoC).

“Even as the pandemic jitter continues to loom over the market sentiments giving shock waves to the industry along with the erratic supply-chain issues which seem not to be settling before mid of 2022, a total of 117 smartphones were launched in India in the 1st half (Jan-Jun) of 2021,” the report said.

Among smartphone OEMs Samsung led with 16 launches, closely followed by Realme with 15 launches. Vivo stood third with 10 launches. Across OEMs there were 178 variants of models launched for various price segments with different configurations.

Faisal Kawoosa, Chief Analyst, Techarc, said, “Selection of a chipset supplier is an important decision for OEMs enabling them to build smartphones with an ideal balance of features, performance and experience. While revenues market share is a factor of sales of smartphones for chipset players as well, the first acid-test continues to be the selection, which is done after rigorous testing and assessment of platform by the OEMs.”

“This is an area where India needs to pursue AtmaNirbhar ambition rigorously and soon have a domestic player making chipsets for smartphones and other smart devices. We do have hopes in players like Saankhya Labs,” added Kawoosa.

As for the most preferred chipset, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 and MediaTek’s Helio G35 tied for the top spot with maximum number of smartphone models launched by OEMs in 1H 2021. Nine models each, were launched using these chipsets.

“This is clearly due to increasing interest towards smartphone gaming and OEMs launching optimal gaming experience devices across price points,” the report said.

Qualcomm leads 5G smartphone market

Qualcomm, however, led the 5G smartphone launches with 20 out of 35 models launched using its chipset. In 5G smartphones, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 led with nine models launched followed by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870. MediaTek’s Dimensity 800U and MediaTek’s 700 at second place with five launches each.

In terms of maximum variants launched on a chipset, MediaTek’s Helio G80 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 732G were used as SoC for 11 variants each by smartphone OEMs.

MediaTek offered a wider portfolio for smartphone makers with 17 different chipsets being used for launches in H1 2021, compared to the 15 chipsets by Qualcomm thatwere picked by OEMs for smartphones launched during the period.

Market segments

In the Entry segment (less than ₹6,000) of smartphones, three out of ten smartphones launched were on UNISOC, two on Qualcomm, and one on a MediaTek chipset.

According to the report, the segment is critical for widening the smartphone user base in India helping millions of feature phone users to upgrade.

“However, OEMs are yet to find an ideal product for this segment with an balance between experience and price,” it said.

MediaTek dominated the Basic segment (₹6,000 – ₹12,000) as 26 smartphone models were launched using a MediaTek chipset out of a total of 42 smartphones launched in H1 2021.

This segment is the largest segment contributing 46.1 per cent of smartphone sales during the period.

The Mid segment (₹12,001 – ₹25,000) is another fast-growing segment. All leading OEMs have forayed into this segment where MediaTek again emerged as the preferred chipset partner. 23 smartphone models out of 42 were launched on a MediaTek chipset. In comparison, only 17 smartphone models were launched on a Qualcomm chipset. This segment is the second largest segment by sales contributing 39.7 per cent during H1 2021.

The Premium segment (₹25,001 – ₹50,000) was led by Qualcomm with 13 out of 19 smartphone models launched on a Snapdragon chipset. In this segment MediaTek had five launches.

“Much to the credit of OnePlus, this has emerged as a distinct segment and all leading OEMs have launched their smartphones in this segment as well,” the report said.

The segment contributed 8.7 per cent of smartphone sales during the first half of the year.

In the Luxe segment (more than ₹50,000) Qualcomm was the only pureplay fabless chipset provider with 7 out of 10 smartphones launched in the segment during H1 2021.

MediaTek is yet to make its entry in this segment which contributed 1.3 per cent of the smartphone sales during the period.

“The 5nm node is picking up in India with 13 smartphone models launched with this size of chipset. However, maximum (40) smartphones were launched on 12nm node. This is helping improve the efficiency of the chipset at a lesser power consumption,” the report further added.

Talking about the market competition, Kavita Behera, Analyst, Techarc, said, “The Premium and Luxe segments are Qualcomm’s strongholds as it usually introduces SoCs of new platforms first aligning with the plans of smartphone OEMs to offer latest technology in premium segments first. However, the major volume segments of Basic and Mid-range are strongly held by MediaTek.”

“It needs to be seen how this will pan out as 5G smartphones proliferate in lower price segments through the year,” added Behera.