Unisoc is expected to roll out its new-generation 6nm 5G chip solution some time between late second-quarter and early third-quarter 2021, while Xiaomi and Oppo also have plans to introduce their in-house developed 5G solutions by the end of this year, according to industry sources.

The upcoming rollouts of new 5G chips are set to bring more competition to the global 5G mobile chip market dominated by Qualcomm and MediaTek, the sources indicated.

Nevertheless, tight foundry capacity may disrupt the overall mobile chip supply for 5G smartphones to some degree this year, the sources noted. Only suppliers with sufficient foundry support will be able to grow their presence in the global 5G smartphone chip market in 2021, the sources said.

MediaTek, for example, has obtained sufficient capacity support from TSMC and will stand a good chance of becoming the world's largest 5G chipmaker in terms of unit sales during the first half of 2021, the sources indicated.

With foundry capacity set to stay tight through year-end 2022, support from foundry partners will be crucial to these chip vendors' success in the 5G smartphone chip market, the sources said.