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.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bengaluru: The South Zone round of the WAVES VFX Challenge took place today in Bengaluru, organized by the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI).

The day-long competition brought together talented participants from across southern India, with the goal of selecting top finalists who will go on to represent the region at the national finals next month during the WAVES Summit in Mumbai.

Finalists were selected in three categories:

Student Category

Winner: Soumya Das

Runner-up: Gagan HP

Professional Category

Winner: Mohamad Javeed

Runner-up: S Sai Chandan

Enthusiasts Category

Winner: Gagan Ajai

Over 1,500 entries were received from students, working professionals, and VFX enthusiasts, all centered around the theme “Super Hero Power.” Out of these, 14 entries were shortlisted to compete in today’s final round. One winner and one runner-up from each category were chosen to represent the South Zone in Mumbai.

ABAI Secretary R.K. Chand appreciated the strong participation and encouraged industry professionals to attend the Mumbai summit, which will host well-known personalities from films, advertising, and creative sectors. He also mentioned that the WAVES Challenge was recently launched in Bengaluru by Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The event was inaugurated by Dr. Sagar Gulati, Director of the School of Creative Design and Information Technology at Jain (Deemed-to-be University), the zonal partner for the competition.

The day also featured two special sessions led by industry experts. Vijay Selvam from the global VFX studio MPC held a masterclass titled “Concept Reality,” where he discussed lighting, animation, compositing, and photorealistic effects. Students got the chance to interact with him during a Q&A session.

Another session was conducted by Rakesh H, Lead Head at The Mill, who spoke about how visual effects are used in advertising. Nearly 100 students attended these sessions, gaining valuable industry insights and learning opportunities.