Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek has emerged as the biggest chipmaker on the global market as of Q4 2023, as highlighted by a new report from Canalys. The chipmaker sold 117 million units of chipsets during the period compared to Apple and Qualcomm’s 78 million and 69 million, respectively.
Other notable chipmakers on the list include Google, Samsung, and Unisoc, but their market share does not come close to industry leaders such as Qualcomm or MediaTek.
During the same period, the Taiwanese chipmaker’s overall shipments increased by 21% compared to last year to hit $23 billion in terms of revenue. Apple’s chipset revenue, however, is far ahead of MediaTek’s at $87 billion. Qualcomm is also making more money than MediaTek in this realm with $30 billion in 2023.
Samsung is Doing Poorly
But although Qualcomm’s chipset revenue is higher, it is, in fact, a 2% decline compared to 2022. This is still nothing compared to Samsung’s alarming 44% slump in the same category and it is evident that the Korean phone maker has a lot of catching up to do. The Galaxy S24’s Exynos 2400 appears to be a step in the right direction, however.
Samsung’s revenue numbers are only 40% of Qualcomm’s and 25% of MediaTek during the quarter. The Canalys report adds that Xiaomi was one of the biggest customers for Qualcomm, accounting for 25% of its shipments. MediaTek, meanwhile, scored 20% of its shipments thanks to Xiaomi, but Samsung remained its biggest customer in Q4, 2023.
Huawei’s Big Comeback
Huawei is returning to the SoC market with a bang, reporting a mind-boggling 5,121% improvement in shipments compared to previous periods. The Chinese OEM made $7 billion in revenue out of its chipsets and shipped 7 million units. The resurgence comes mainly from its in-house Kirin silicon.
Unisoc, known for its entry-level offerings, made an impressive 24% jump in revenue year over year to hit $3 billion and 27 million units shipped.
Similar to Samsung, Google’s chip business is also not doing so well at the moment, with estimated revenue at $2 billion, but only 3 million shipments. It is unclear if it has to do with the poor performance of Tensor chipsets.
