The global cellular baseband processor market declined 2% on year to US$10.5 billion in the first half of 2016, according to Strategy Analytics.

Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung LSI, Spreadtrum and HiSilicon captured the top-five baseband revenue share spots in the first half of 2016, said Strategy Analytics. Despite increased competition, Qualcomm maintained its baseband market share leadership with 50% revenue share, followed by MediaTek with 23% and Samsung LSI with 12%.

"As a result of increased competition and market expansion, Qualcomm's LTE unit share dropped to 54% in 1H 2016, from 67% in the same period last year," said Sravan Kundojjala, associate director at Strategy Analytics. "After a difficult 2015, Qualcomm showed signs of recovery with significant traction for its latest flagship chip Snapdragon 820 in 1H 2016, which has helped the company improve its ASP this year."

"We expect Qualcomm to continue to improve its baseband shipment mix through 2016 with the help of increased shipments of smartphone applications processors, partly due to Apple dual-sourcing modems for its new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus," Kundojjala continued.

MediaTek's LTE shipments more than doubled in the first half of 2016 compared to a year ago, commented Stuart Robinson, executive director of Strategy Analytics' handset component technologies service. "MediaTek's LTE growth was fueled by its strong presence in China and other emerging markets and its strong mid-tier LTE product portfolio. Except for Apple and Samsung almost all major handset manufacturers now use MediaTek's LTE chips and we believe MediaTek will continue to gain share through 2016."

LTE basebands continued to witness strong double-digit growth in the first half of 2016, while 3G and 2G baseband segments declined sharply, Strategy Analytics indicated.

"For the first time, LTE baseband shipments accounted for over 50% of total baseband shipments in Q1 2016 and this trend continued in Q2 2016," said Christopher Taylor, Director of Strategy Analytics' RF & wireless components service. "Qualcomm, MediaTek, Spreadtrum, Samsung LSI, HiSilicon and Intel all benefited from this growth. Intel, in particular, with its new LTE design-win at Apple, is poised for share gains in 2H 2016."