Mobile SoC TAM to Exceed 3.1 Billion Devices in 2015

Driven by consumer’s desire to be connected anywhere and anytime and the ever increasing access to any and every type of content, the electronics industry continues to change rapidly

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Driven by consumer’s desire to be connected anywhere and anytime and the ever increasing access to any and every type of content, the electronics industry continues to change rapidly. A key dynamic of this change is the continued push for a rich visual experience on any size screen. This desired experience continues to push the limits of current mobile SoCs and makes the graphics processing unit (GPU) one of the most critical components in the design and differentiation of the SoC and consumer devices. New NPD In-Stat research forecasts that these trends will push the mobile SoC TAM to over 3.1 billion devices in 2015, up from 2 billion in 2010. Devices that may require a mobile SoC include basic/feature cellphones, smartphones, notebook PCs, mini-note PCs (netbooks), tablets, digital still cameras, mp3 players, personal navigation devices, e-readers, handheld game consoles, digital camcorders, and portable media players.

“The shift toward graphical user interfaces and media-rich content in entertainment and computing has pushed multimedia acceleration, including graphics, video, and audio, in electronic devices from a simple co-processing function to the forefront of semiconductor and system design,” says Jim McGregor, Research Director. “This change has been driven by richer content, higher accessibility to content over the Internet, industry standards, new technologies, and increased communication bandwidth. These advancements, however, also come with the challenges of increased complexity, increased performance requirements, and constraints in power, size, and cost.”

Key research findings include:

• There are three driver/magnet platforms in the mobile segment – smartphones, tablets, and notebooks PCs – that will grow at a CAGR of 25.7% as compared to 8.7% for the overall mobile market
• Only 40% of the mobile SoC TAM will use at least one dedicated GPUs in 2011. It is important to note that both the number of SoCs using GPUs is increasing and the number of GPU cores per SoC is increasing throughout the forecast period.
• Intel and Imagination lead the GPU market because of their dominance in PCs and smartphones, respectively. Combined, the two are projected to comprise 61.3% of the GPU Technology Mobile Serviceable Available Market in 2011.
• The division between PC and mobile CE GPUs will narrow in the future, increasing the competition between GPU technologies.

New NPD In-Stat research, Mobile Graphics: Smartphones Beat the Drum to Which All Markets March (#IN1105075SI) provides a comprehensive look at the graphics or GPUs (graphics processing units) with a strong emphasis on the integrated or intellectual property (IP) solutions that are available for mobile consumer electronic (CE) devices.

The forecasts in this report include:

• Five year mobile graphics TAM by mobile device platform
• CE devices forecast include: cellphones, smartphones, notebook PCs, tablets, digital cameras, MP3 players, personal navigation devices (PNDs), e-readers, handheld game consoles, digital camcorders, portable media players (PMPs), and mini-note PC (netbooks).
• 2010 and estimated projected for 2011 vendor/GPU technology market shares for smartphones, notebook PCs, tablets, e-readers, handheld game consoles, portable media players (PMPs), and mini-note PCs (netbooks).
• Vendor profiles including: AMD, ARM Holdings, Digital Media Professionals (DMP), Imagination Technologies, Intel Corporation, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Vivante.

This research is part of NPD In-Stat’s Mobile Technology service, which provides analysis of the market for technologies, IP and semiconductors that enable next generation mobile devices, including processors, graphics, modems, GPS, displays, memory, storage, operating systems, software, and human interfaces.