News Article
Imagination Technologies Is Top Dog In GPU IP
Qualcomm is still the largest proprietary GPU supplier but ARM and Vivante are thriving
Jon Peddie Research (JPR) has announced estimated mobile devices graphics chip shipments for the first half of 2012.
Mobile devices considered in the market research's latest report include smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. The market for portable devices continues to soar despite economic difficulties and general uncertainty. Although portable devices are not necessarily replacing the PC, they are outselling the PC.
All of these devices have a graphics processor (GPU) integrated in the device's system on a chip (SoC) application processor.
The application processors are made by over a dozen semiconductor suppliers. These include Broadcom, Apple, Intel, Marvell, MediaTek, Nvidia, ST-Ericsson, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Qualcomm and Samsung. All of those companies fall into one of two categories: vertically integrated or IP buyers. Nvidia and Qualcomm are the vertically integrated companies with their own GPU designs.
According to JPR, the other companies buy GPU IP from IP suppliers ARM, DMP, Imagination Technologies, or Vivante. The exceptions to this are Samsung, which has an internal GPU design and buys IP from ARM and Imagination Technologies, and Broadcom, which has an internal design GPU and buys IP from ARM.
JPR says the leading high-volume suppliers of SoCs are Apple, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Samsung. ARM supplies GPU IP for some of Samsung's mobile phones, while Imagination Technologies' GPU IP is used in Apple, Texas Instruments, and some of Samsung's mobile phones and tablets.
The upcoming SoC suppliers with impressive design wins to their credit are Intel (Imagination Technologies' GPU) and Nvidia (proprietary GPU). Other SoC suppliers that buy GPU IP are Freescale, Huawei, MediaTek, Rockchip, and Wonder Media/VIA. These companies have participated in the feature phone market, and some of them have recently entered the smartphone and tablet segment.
One area that is fuelling the growth of portable SoCs is the exploding tablet market in China, which is contributing significantly to the astounding growth that ARM and Vivante are experiencing.
As a result of this tablet surge, dramatic changes are expected in the next year. Apple will introduce a 7-inch tablet, Microsoft will bring out its Surface tablet, and Texas Instruments will continue to supply Amazon. This is even though the company is pulling back from the smartphone market as Nokia loses market share.
JPR believes the market for SoCs with GPUs grew 91.3 percent from the first half of 2011, with market shifts occurring as shown in Table above. As a result of the turbulence in the market, JPR expects market shares to shift dramatically through 2012, and is looking at a new IP company to enter the market in 2013.
