The global cellular baseband processor market grew 8.3% on year to US$18.9 billion in 2013, according to Strategy Analytics.

　　Qualcomm maintained its dominance with a 64% share, followed by MediaTek with a 12% share and Intel with 8%, said Strategy Analytics. Spreadtrum and Broadcom rounded out the top-five cellular baseband processor suppliers.

　　Qualcomm domination in the cellular baseband market continued in 2013, thanks to its early investments in multi-mode LTE technology, Strategy Analytics senior analyst Sravan Kundojjala noted.

　　The LTE baseband landscape is expected to be a "crowded" one in 2014, with several vendors including Broadcom, Ericsson, Intel, Marvell, MediaTek, Nvidia, Spreadtrum and others all set to bring commercial multi-mode LTE chip products to the market, Kundojjala continued. This could help drive LTE down into mid-to-low tier devices.

　　In the 3G UMTS baseband sector, MediaTek overtook Intel to capture the number two spot in 2013, according to Christopher Taylor, director of the Strategy Analytics RF and wireless component service. "MediaTek's recent LTE chip announcements could potentially improve its baseband revenue share in future."

　　In addition, Strategy Analytics observed that revenues from baseband-integrated applications processors represented over 60% of total baseband revenues in 2013, up from 48% in 2012.