Canalys: Mediatek ends 2023 as the most dominant chipset provider

Canalys posted a report about the smartphone market in Q4 2023, with a breakdown by processor vendor. The analysis revealed Mediatek powered more devices than any chip maker in the final quarter of last year, with a 21% increase YoY.

In terms of revenue, it is Apple that took the crown in Q4 2023. Mobile phones with a Cupertino silicon (only iPhones have this) brought $87 billion in revenue for the US company, 20% more than the same period last year.

The report includes only the October-December 2023 period and does not include details about the entire fiscal year. Mediatek, Apple, and Qualcomm were the top three chipset providers across the market, while Huawei-owned HiSilicon saw $7 billion in revenue for 7 million units. This means the Chinese company sold primarily nova 12 and Mate 60 phones with Kirin 9000S for $1000 (on average) a piece.

Another surprise from China is phones with Unisoc chipset saw a 24% YoY increase both in revenue and volume. Half of the phones with an SoC from this vendor were under the Transsion umbrella, which includes brand Infinix, Tecno, and iTel, which are popular in emerging markets.

Samsung Semiconductor saw a 48% decrease in shipments of phones with an Exynos chip, bringing down the quarterly revenue to $5 billion, 44% down from last year. We expect a slight increase in the first half of 2024, as Exynos 2400-powered Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ saw increased sales, while Galaxy A55 with Exynos 1480 is arriving this month.

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