To reduce reliance on third-party vendors, leading smartphone makers like Samsung and Huawei have increased the use of their own chipsets in their products. IHS Markit said this is causing a major shift in the market.
The report shows that Samsung and Huawei's internal chipset shipments in the third quarter of 2019 increased by more than 30% compared to the same period last year. Correspondingly, Qualcomm's share fell by 16.1%.
In addition, Samsung used its Exynos processor in about 80.4% of mid-range smartphones in the third quarter of 2019, up from 64.2% in 2018. Overall, Samsung smartphones using Exynos reached 61.4% this quarter.
On the other hand, 74.6% of Huawei's smartphones delivered in the third quarter used its own Kirin series, an increase from 68.7% a year ago.
This is a major shift for the Chinese giant, which previously used Kirin chipsets on flagship smartphones, but is now expanding its use to mid-range devices.
The report added that Qualcomm's share of Huawei's shipments declined from 24% in the third quarter of 2018 to 8.6% in the third quarter of 2019. On the other hand, MediaTek increased its share in Huawei mobile phones, rising to 16.7% this quarter, up from 7.3% in the same period last year.
However, at the same time, both Qualcomm and MediaTek are struggling to maintain and expand their market share. With brands such as Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo becoming major customers of Qualcomm and MediaTek, the competition between these two chip manufacturers is becoming increasingly fierce.
In the third quarter of 2019, Qualcomm maintained the highest share in the global mobile processor market with a 31% share, followed by MediaTek with a 21% market share. Samsung Exynos and Huawei Kirin have 16% and 14% market share.
