Phone AP Shipments To Drop Second Straight Year

Global shipments of smartphone application processors (AP) are forecast to drop for the second consecutive year, following uncertain China-US trade tensions and production volatility.

According to new research from Taiwanese trade publication, DigiTimes, US component giant Qualcomm is still tipped to see shares edge higher in 2019, amid the industry decline.

Qualcomm has reportedly secured additional AP orders from the top-five global smartphone vendors, with overall shipments forecast to grow at a single digit rate in 2019.

The hardware giant is expected to maintain its market leadership with a 40% share.

Courtesy of parent company, Huawei, HilSilicon is also forecast to ramp up its shipments in 2019, with its components tipped to move to a higher product price segment.

Despite being embroiled in a global privacy saga, Huawei’s expansion into overseas market is also forecast to boost HiSilicon smartphone AP shipments.

The ratio of smartphone application processors with an artificial intelligence accelerator is also tipped to gain momentum this year, citing increased uptake of biometric ID, image processing and increased overall customisation.

DigiTimes Research expects smartphone application processors with neural network-like AI accelerators to represent 40% of the global market this year.