Cellular broadband chipsets outgrow phones

While cellular chipsets are mostly used in mobile phones today, cellular chipsets used in non-mobile phone applications to provide mobile broadband connectivity will exceed mobile phones growth by 2013, said IDC.

In a report released Monday, IDC said cellular broadband chipsets will grow from 7 percent in 2009 to 16 percent of total chipsets by 2013, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35 percent. Total cellular chipset will grow at 9.3 percent CAGR on a unit basis.

Flint Pulskamp, wireless semiconductor analyst at IDC, said in the report that consumers are increasingly demanding data connectivity as they migrate from fixed devices to mobile devices.

"There is strong appeal for real-time data connectivity and access not only in traditional computing devices like notebooks, but also in a number of emerging markets such as medical monitoring, industrial, as well as a growing array of consumer products such as e-readers," said Pulskamp.

The report added that prior to 2008, most cellular broadband chipsets had been consumed by industrial applications.

According to IDC, the cellular broadband market is currently dominated by very few cellular chipset suppliers that are mostly leaders in the mobile phone space. Qualcomm, ST-Ericsson, Infineon and Icera, control a vast majority of the segment share and will benefit from the growth.