San Francisco, June 12 : As the global smartphone Applications Processor (AP) market declined 5 per cent (year-over-year) to reach $20.2 billion in 2017, Qualcomm was the leader with 42 per cent revenue share, a new report said on Tuesday.

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, Qualcomm, Apple, MediaTek, Samsung LSI and HiSilicon captured the top-five revenue share spots in 2017.

Qualcomm was followed by Apple with 22 per cent at second place and MediaTek with 15 per cent at third.

"The 64-bit smartphone AP shipments grew 15 per cent (year-on-year) and accounted for 88 per cent of the total smartphone AP shipments in CY 2017, up from 71 per cent in CY 2016," said the report.

Apple, HiSilicon, Qualcomm and Samsung LSI all registered year-on-year shipment growth while MediaTek and Spreadtrum saw their shipments decline sharply.

"2017 proved to be a very challenging year for low-cost and high volume players MediaTek and Spreadtrum as both companies saw their smartphone AP shipments and revenue decline sharply," said Sravan Kundojjala, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics.

Security, privacy and bandwidth factors are currently driving the on-device Artificial Intelligence (AI) chip trend as smartphone chip companies are integrating intelligence engines in their designs.

"The on-device AI chip landscape is highly fragmented. We think 2018 will be an experimental year for on-device AI chips and 2019 will see more clarity on future direction," said the report.

In 2017, over 250 million smartphone APs shipped with native AI engines to enable machine learning (ML) applications such as 3D face detection, image recognition and Animoji.

Octa-core chips accounted for over 40 per cent of total smartphone AP shipments.

"Thanks to Qualcomm's increased strength in the mid-range with the Snapdragon 600 series, Qualcomm gained significant share at Chinese OEMs including Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi at the expense of MediaTek in 2017," informed Stuart Robinson, Executive Director of the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service.

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Lahore (PTI): Pakistan's Punjab Police on Friday registered a case against unidentified gunmen for opening fire on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founder Amir Hamza, who suffered bullet injuries in the attack in Lahore.

On Thursday, two unidentified gunmen riding on a bike opened fire on the vehicle of the private TV channel 24NewsHD TV, owned by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, on Peco Road in Lahore near the TV channel's office.

In the attack, Hamza suffered bullet injuries.

"The FIR has been registered against unidentified gunmen, but it is sealed forthwith," a senior police officer told PTI.

He said the intelligence agencies have taken over this case from the police, and they are currently investigating the matter.

The channel's religious programme host Justice (retd.) Nazir Ahmed Ghazi and Hamza were in the vehicle when it was attacked. Hamza was shifted to a hospital for treatment.

Punjab police on Friday said that "upon receiving information about the incident, the SSP Operations immediately reached the scene and a high alert was imposed in the area. SSP Operations Tauqeer Naeem also met the affected individuals. Thankfully, all present in the vehicle remained safe during the firing."

It further said senior police officers of the Township and Chung, along with a heavy police contingent, were present at the scene.

"Police collected evidence from the site and initiated an investigation. Efforts to arrest the suspects are underway using CCTV footage and geo-fencing techniques. Search and sweep operations are being conducted at various locations, with scrutiny of suspicious individuals ongoing," police said.

It added that those involved in the incident will be traced and arrested soon.

The police sources said that Hamza has been shifted to his residence in Jauhar Town, Lahore, where police and agency personnel met him.

The leadership of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), a political front of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD), including Hafiz Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed, also called on him.

TV host retired Justice Ghazi, who remained unhurt in the attack, remained a legal counsel for Hafiz Saeed, they said.

The PMML has strongly condemned the attack on Hamza and demanded that those involved in the incident be arrested immediately.

Hamza is regarded as LeT's second most important leader after its chief Hafiz Saeed, who has been in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 2019 after getting convicted for several years in terror financing cases. 

Hamza has been designated as a terrorist by the US. In the past, he served as the head of LeT's "special campaigns" department.

In 2018, Hamza formed a fundraising group for the LeT following a ban on the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation by the Pakistani government.