The global cellular baseband processor market grew 16% on year to US$7.2 billion in the second quarter of 2021, according to Strategy Analytics. Qualcomm capitalized on iPhone 12 design-wins and mid-range Android momentum to capture 52% revenue share during the quarter.

"Qualcomm led the 5G baseband market with a 68% unit share, despite increased competition from MediaTek," said Sravan Kundojjala, associate director of Strategy Analytics' handset component technologies service. "For the third straight quarter, Qualcomm shipped over 100 million 5G basebands in Q2 2021, thanks to its strong relationships with smartphone OEMs and semiconductor foundries."

Strategy Analytics believes that Qualcomm's 5G-driven growth story will continue through the rest of 2021 and 2022.

"MediaTek more than doubled its baseband revenue in Q2 2021 as its 5G Dimensity chips continued to gain traction," said Christopher Taylor, director of Strategy Analytics' RF and wireless components service. "However, Strategy Analytics believes that MediaTek's growth momentum will slow down in 2H 2021 compared to 1H 2021, driven by capacity constraints."

MediaTek took a 30% revenue share in the second quarter of 2021, followed by Samsung LSI with 10%, according to Strategy Analytics.

Unisoc saw its LTE shipments jump 169% on year in the second quarter of 2021, driven by competitive Tiger-branded portfolio, while HiSilicon saw its shipments decline 82% during the quarter due to trade sanctions, Strategy Analytics said.

In addition, Strategy Analytics disclosed that 5G basebands accounted for almost two-thirds of baseband revenue in the second quarter of 2021.