Intelligent Wealth APP learned that Qunzhi Consulting stated that with the arrival of the overseas emerging market replacement cycle and the driving force of the global AI trend, the mobile phone market is expected to experience a moderate recovery in the first half of 2024. Against this backdrop, the demand for smart phone processors (AP) by various terminal manufacturers is expected to increase in the first half of 2024. According to Sigmaintell data, the global smart phone processor chip shipment in the first half of 2024 was about 0.57 billion units, an increase of 9% year-on-year. In the second half of 2024, the launch of new products such as Qualcomm's flagship chip 8 Gen4, MediaTek's D9400, as well as the release of the iPhone 16 series, Mate 70 series, and other flagship models from terminal manufacturers, will bring about a wave of smart phone replacement, with an expected increase in smart phone AP shipments.

MediaTek's shipment volume grew rapidly, with a market share of about 42% in the first half of 2024.

Against the backdrop of high inventory levels of smart phone chips in the first half of 2023, MediaTek made adjustments to the naming of its smart phone chips to make its product series distribution clearer. Secondly, it reduced the price of its low-end products, highlighting the cost-effectiveness of its products. In the environment of rising prices of storage and other components, the demand from terminal manufacturers for lower overall BOM costs led them to prioritize cost considerations for mid-to-low-end products in the first half of 2024. According to Sigmaintell research data, MediaTek's chip shipments in the first half of 2024 reached 0.24 billion units, an 11% year-on-year increase. In terms of overall market share, it remained at the level of 42%.

Qualcomm (QCOM.US) took similar actions to MediaTek in the first half of 2023 and 2024, but its product sales were more focused on high-end and mid-range chips, with overall inventory clearance efforts slightly inferior to those of MediaTek. Additionally, the hot sales of Huawei's Mate 60 series at the end of 2023 had a certain impact on the shipment of mid-to-high-end chips. In the first half of 2024, Qualcomm's chip shipments were close to 0.14 billion units, a decrease of about 3% year-on-year. Qualcomm's revenue in the first half of the year was also affected, with quarterly net income between 2.2-2.3 billion USD, facing certain challenges in profitability. In the first quarter of 2024, MediaTek's net income reached 32.2 billion New Taiwan dollars, close to the net income of 33 billion New Taiwan dollars in the third quarter of 2022, showing relatively better operational conditions.

Domestic AP manufacturers saw a significant increase in shipments in the first half of 2024, with a market share of 11% in the global AP market.

Domestic manufacturer UNISOC has been active in the ultra-low-end 4G smart phone chip market, and with terminal manufacturers paying more attention to BOM costs for low-end 4G products, UNISOC's products have been favored for their great cost performance advantage. At the same time, starting from the end of 2023, the moderate recovery of demand in overseas emerging markets has led terminal manufacturers in these markets to increase their product layout, which in turn has boosted demand for UNISOC's products. According to Sigmaintell data, UNISOC's shipments in the first half of 2024 increased by 19% compared to the previous year, reaching 44 million units.

HiSilicon's overall shipment volume grew significantly, with a year-on-year increase of about 6 times due to the release of the Mate 60 series at the end of 2023 and the Pura 70 series products in the first half of 2024. As a result, HiSilicon's market share in global smart phone processor shipments rose from around 1% in 2023 to about 4% in the first half of 2024.

In the first half of 2024, the global shipment market share of Ziguang Zhanrui and Hisilicon, the domestic AP chip manufacturers, has reached 11%. With the continuous increase in terminal costs and the complex geopolitical background, the market share of domestic AP chips is expected to further increase.

Looking forward to the second half of 2024, smartphone processor manufacturers such as MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Apple (APPL.US) will launch their flagship chips based on Taiwan Semiconductor's (TSM.US) N3E process. The shipment volume of mid-to-high-end processors will increase significantly in the second half of this year. At the same time, with the gradual increase in the production volume of domestic chips, there are also certain variables in the future competition in the mobile AP industry.