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Cellular baseband modem market analysis (Pt. 1)

LTE represents the fastest-growing part of the cellular baseband market, but 2G and 3G solutions still dominate the market. Just 13% of the cellular modems sold last year were LTE modems, according to the analysts at Forward Concepts.

“LTE is the fastest growing segment and it’s the only one that people are putting their engineering resources into,” said Will Strauss, founder and principal analyst at Forward Concepts. But the 2G and 3G markets are still much bigger, and will remain so for a while. “In Europe LTE is not dominant at all. It’s a hopscotch. Some countries have it, some countries don’t,” Strauss pointed out.

Qualcomm remains the top provider of cellular modems. The company has always supplied the baseband modems for the iPhone, giving it an early lead in the smartphone market. Qualcomm was also a pioneer in developing LTE modems, and in integrating baseband modems with applications processors. But for Apple, Qualcomm still supplies “standalone” modems because Apple makes its own applications processors.

“Qualcomm’s biggest standalone modem market is Apple,” said Strauss. “Standalone is an area that Qualcomm just does not pursue, except for Apple.” Nonetheless, Qualcomm dominates the standalone modem market with a 58% share, according to the analysts at Forward Concepts.

Tomorrow: a look at the LTE modem market in detail.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Martha DeGrasse
Martha DeGrassehttp://www.nbreports.com
Martha DeGrasse is the publisher of Network Builder Reports (nbreports.com). At RCR, Martha authored more than 20 in-depth feature reports and more than 2,400 news articles. She also created the Mobile Minute and the 5 Things to Know Today series. Prior to joining RCR Wireless News, Martha produced business and technology news for CNN and Dow Jones in New York and managed the online editorial group at Hoover’s Online before taking a number of years off to be at home when her children were young. Martha is the board president of Austin's Trinity Center and is a member of the Women's Wireless Leadership Forum.