ABI Research Coverage of Qualcomm Inc

As the smartphone market continues its speedy transition to 5G, it becomes increasingly obvious that the design of Radio Frequency (RF) systems and the choice of appropriate RF Front End (RFFE) components will become key for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to differentiate their products. The goal of this report is to bring further evidence of the growing complexity of smartphone RF design and why system design across multiple air interfaces is key to enhancing the overall performance of smartphones, helping OEMs accelerate time to innovation.

The 5G smartphone market is set to rapidly expand in the next 12 months, with many mobile vendors looking to quickly develop their 5G portfolios. It is anticipated that 5G will increase more aggressively compared to 4G to become the most accelerated mobile technology generation ever launched, despite any lag in demand that may be caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. This landmark growth includes a seismic shift to lower price points in 2020, which will greatly increase the global addressable market for 5G. However, a host of extremely complex challenges lie ahead for smartphone vendors to overcome if this 5G demand explosion across all tiers is to be fully realized. The accompanying whitepaper examines how the fast transition to 5G and the corresponding increase in smartphone design complexity are being addressed by innovative modem-to-antenna solutions. Using teardown analysis, it will unpack their use of 5G RF components in the Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) of individual models. Given the imminent need for a modem-RF system design to enhance the overall solution, and as one of the few in the industry to currently support such an approach, our report will focus on Qualcomm’s design wins across the technologies in the smartphones, and includes those covering both sub-6 Gigahertz (GHz) and Millimeter Wave (mmWave) options.

Open RAN can become a disruptive trend that will move the telco infrastructure market from a static, vertical market with few players using proprietary solutions to a dynamic, horizontal market with a multitude of players, similar to the innovative, dynamic, and well-established Personal Computer (PC) and cloud computing markets.

Mobile networks are in the middle of a vast transition, one that is more groundbreaking than any other periods of transition in the past 15 years: 5G is expected to bring a much bigger impact to the global economy than 3G and 4G. Mobile service providers transitioned from a voice-centric to a data-driven business model, which not only ushered in the era of the mobile Internet, but is now also creating new business opportunities in adjacent markets, including the Internet of Things (IoT), automotive, and many more.