Qualcomm and Texas Instruments in the second quarter outpaced the wireless semiconductor market, boosting their share of global sales, according to iSuppli. In the second quarter, market-leader Qualcomm achieved wireless semiconductor revenue of US$1.37 billion, up 8.6 percent from $1.26 billion in the first quarter. No. 2 player Texas Instruments sold US$1.23 billion worth of wireless-oriented semiconductors, up 7 percent from US$1.15 billion in the first quarter.
These figures consist of revenue from sales of application-specific semiconductors for wireless applications, including mobile handsets, wireless infrastructure equipment, wireless LANs and connectivity products.
With the global wireless semiconductor market expanding by 4 percent during the period, the two companies increased their market share. Qualcomm's share rose to 18.2 percent in the second quarter, up from 17.4 percent in the first quarter. Texas Instruments' share increased to 16.4 percent in the second quarter, up from 15.9 percent in the first quarter.
"Qualcomm retained the top spot in total wireless semiconductors for the second quarter in a row," said Francis Sideco, senior analyst, wireless communications, for iSuppli. "The company, so far, is weathering its recent legal challenges to capitalize on strong growth in sales of chips for WCDMA mobile handsets and semiconductors for wireless infrastructure equipment."
Meanwhile, Texas Instruments held its second-place position.
"Texas Instruments achieved strong growth in mobile-handset and cellular infrastructure chips in the second quarter, allowing it to outgrow the market," Sideco added. "The company gained market share in mobile-handset semiconductors for 2G mobile phones due to the ramp up of its LoCosto single-chip solution for Ultra Low-Cost Handsets (ULCHs) and entry-level phones."
While Qualcomm and Texas Instruments maintained their market dominance, NXP posted the strongest growth among the Top-5 wireless semiconductor suppliers in the second quarter. NXP's wireless semiconductor revenue rose to $438 million in the second quarter, up 16.2 percent from $377 million in the first quarter. The company increased its market share to 5.8 percent in the second quarter, up six-tenths of a percentage point from 5.2 percent in the first quarter. NXP benefited from strong sales of mobile handset baseband chips.
iSuppli predicts global wireless semiconductor revenue will rise by 4.5 percent in 2007 to reach $56.1 billion, up from $53.7 billion in 2006.
