MediaTek surpasses Qualcomm, becomes top smartphone chipset vendor in Q3 2020

When we talk about the biggest processor makers in the smartphone world, usually brands like Qualcomm and Samsung come to our mind. However, both of these were apparently not the biggest smartphone chipset vendors in third quarter of 2020. According to a new report by Counterpoint, MediaTek was the one that outstripped Qualcomm to get the lead position. 

As per the report, the Taiwanese chipset maker performed well in $100 to 250 ( ₹7000 – ₹18,000) price bracket. India and China were two of the most important markets for MediaTek in Q3. One of the reasons for MediaTek’s growth is also said to be the sluggish growth of Huawei due to these US sanctions

Also read: Apple gets its hand on processors that may arrive after 2 years

Counterpoint adds that MediaTek chipsets were in some 100 million smartphones that were sold globally in the third quarter. All this helped the company to expand its market share from 26% in second quarter to 31%.

The growth of MediaTek also means that it somewhere hampered Qualcomm's market that dropped from 31% share in Q2 to 29% in Q3.

Also read: Samsung to launch new Exynos chip on January 12

However, Qualcomm right now is still leading when it comes to market for 5G chipsets. It had a share of 39% in the third quarter. As per CounterPoint, the demand for 5G phones increased in Q3 with 17% of all handsets supporting 5G network. And this helped Qualcomm expand its market share. 

The research firm says that this 5G trend is likely to continue with 1/3rd of all smartphones that will be shipped in the fourth quarter of 2020. While Qualcomm has brought some new 5G supporting chipsets including the Snapdragon 690, Snapdragon 750G and Snapdragon 865 Plus, MediaTek on the other hand, has also expanded its lineup across different pricing, using its Dimensity range of 5G chipsets.