MediaTek grows in US Android SoC market, Qualcomm plummets, report

Taiwanese chip vendor MediaTek has narrowed the gap with Qualcomm and now accounts for 45% of the Android devices sold in the US market in April 2022, claims a new report by market research firm Counterpoint. 

Though Qualcomm remains the market leader in the US, accounting for 47% of Android device sales, its market share has plummeted from 54% in January. In comparison, MediaTek's market share grew significantly from 38% in January. 

Samsung and Google accounted for 6% and 3% of the Android device sales in April, respectively. 

Counterpoint analysts attribute MediaTek’s change in fortunes to the design wins for the Samsung Galaxy A12 and Galaxy A32 5G, which sold over 5.2 and 3.8 million devices respectively in 2021.

MediaTek also bagged designs for several Motorola devices including Moto G Pure and Moto G Power 2022.

Hanish Bhatia, senior research analyst believes that rise in white-label device sales have also contributed to MediaTek's growth. 

Bhatia points out, telcos in the US were aggressive with white-label devices to fill the market gaps in the low-end price band. 

"In 2021, they partnered with ODMs such as Tinno, Wingtech and Foxconn to push 5G-enabled white-label devices in the sub-$250 price band. Dish and Visible also launched white-label devices for the first time, following in AT&T and T-Mobile’s footsteps," said Bhatia. 

According to Bhatia, MediaTek accounted for 91% of the 800,000 white-label devices sold during the first quarter of 2022. 

Though Qualcomm is no longer the leading vendor in the sub-$250 Android segment, it still dominates the premium Android market and the mid-range Android market ($250-$800). According to 

Maurice Klaehne, senior research analyst at Counterpoint, Qualcomm accounted for 93% of the market in the $800 and higher segment and 64% share in the $250-$800 Android segment in April.

Klaehne attributed this to strong demand for the Snapdragon-powered Samsung Galaxy S22 series smartphones.