Solid growth for application/media processors

FRAMINGHAM, USA: Applications processors and media coprocessors experienced another year of solid growth in 2007 as the chipset technology that enables multimedia has become more mature and chipset pricing has declined.

This has enabled multimedia capabilities to quickly spread from high-end mobile phones into a myriad of mobile and consumer electronics (CE) devices, according to IDC. Multimedia functionality can now be found in most mid-range and even some entry-level phone segments, as well as devices ranging from PMPs, handheld gaming platforms, MIDs, toys, PNDs, and a variety of medical and industrial devices.

"While 2006 was the year multimedia functionality gained traction on mobile phones, 2007 was the year when it hit full stride and started expanding into other devices," said Flint Pulskamp, program manager for Wireless Semiconductors at IDC. "Application processor and media coprocessor suppliers must continue to pursue multimedia processing opportunities emerging from consumer, medical, and gaming products, in order to maintain a healthy revenue run rate and hedge against the rapid integration of the mobile phone market."

Key findings

The key findings from IDC's analysis of the global device applications processor and multimedia coprocessor industry include:

* Revenues for 2007 reached $2.9 billion, a 14 percent increase from the prior year.

* The leading supplier was Texas Instruments, which captured 27 percent of the market, followed by Marvell and Renesas.

* These top three suppliers controlled over 50 percent of the market, with more than 20 other suppliers competing for the remainder of the market.

Findings specific to the worldwide mobile phone semiconductor industry include:



* Revenue grew 9 percent to $23.4 billion in 2007 due to the continued migration from 2.5G to 3G/3.5G technologies.

* QUALCOMM and Texas Instruments ranked as the two largest mobile phone semiconductor suppliers again in 2007; however, their positions switched, as QUALCOMM became the leading supplier last year.

* MediaTek emerged as the third largest mobile phone semiconductor supplier in 2007 with 78 percent overall revenue growth from in 2006.