5G's Impact on RF Front-End Module and Connectivity for Cell Phones 2019: RF Front-end Leaders Still Share 81% of the Market, with Murata Leading Ahead of Skyworks and Broadcom

News provided by

Sep 03, 2019, 08:15 ET

DUBLIN, Sept. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "5G's Impact on RF Front-End Module and Connectivity for Cell phones 2019" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

What's new

Mobile phone units and segmentation
RF front-end market segmentation (types of modules and discrete parts, air standard, connectivity, and front-end)
Extensive RF front-end market share analysis for each type of module and discrete part
GPS/GNSS market included in the connectivity segment

Key features

RF front-end and connectivity market forecast 2018 - 2025, in Mu and $M
Market share in $M, per player and device type
RF front-end technology breakdown forecast
Wafer-start prediction 2018 - 2025 for compound semiconductor, silicon-based technologies (CMOS, SiGe, RFSOI), and piezoelectric material (LT, LN)

RF Front-End Market is Driven by OEM's Strategy

Familiarity with the mobile phone's RF front-end architecture is critical to understanding this market. The main phone manufacturers differentiate from each other in the RF field by adopting either an integrated or a discrete approach.

In the former segment, market leaders Samsung and Apple, along with smaller OEMs like Sony, LG, Google, and ZTE, are moving towards integration with complex RF modules from Broadcom, Skyworks, Qorvo, Qualcomm, and Murata. Integrated players prefer to focus on the user experience with innovative features like Face ID, wireless charging, AI camera, gesture recognition, and the human machine interface, thus leaving most of the RF front-end's complexities to the RF module makers.

Meanwhile, markets challengers like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, which drive as much volume as the market leaders, favour a discrete approach whenever possible. This allows them to keep the RF bill-of-materials (BoM) as low as possible in order to offer aggressive selling prices in this competitive market.

A comparison of teardowns for Huawei's P20 Pro and Samsung's S10 illustrates these opposing strategies. The P20 Pro RF board is made of 45 discrete components and four integrated modules (incorporating 25 components), while the Samsung S10 comprises 17 discrete components and eight integrated modules (incorporating 71 components). Consequently, the BoM for the RF front-end in the S10 ends up being double that of the P20 Pro, even though both devices exhibit similar downlink-speed performance. Also, both devices support more than 30 bands and use similar technologies, such as carrier aggregation and 44 MIMO.

5G radio's introduction in mobile phones definitely adds more complexity to the already complicated RF front-end, and it is likely to exacerbate the phenomenon since price pressure on the RF front-end will be even bigger. Indeed, 5G's penetration rate in smartphones will depend not only on network availability and proposed use-cases but also on device affordability at the consumer level. Accordingly, we can expect a 30% ratio of discrete components in value to be maintained from 2018-2025.

If LTE and 5G components are cumulated in 5G mobile phones to ensure either the non-standalone mode's operation or for a 5G non-covered area to be connected with LTE, then the question of whether 5G sub-6 GHz and 5G mmWave will both be integrated into the phone is not so straightforward.

The cost-over-benefit ratio for the consumer could be too high - plus, a spectrum-holding analysis of the world's main carriers suggests a divided approach. For example, the first 5G devices were released with different SKUs, depending on whether the carrier integrated a sub-6 GHz radio link or a mmWave radio link. Ultimately, 5G could lead to a regionalization phenomenon instead of being globalized, as was the case earlier for LTE.

An Intensifying Competition Towards an Evolving Market Share

The RF front-end leaders still share 81% of the market, with Murata leading ahead of Skyworks and Broadcom. Qualcomm, which is already strong in LNA, is catching up along with Qorvo, thanks to the aggregation of TDK Epcos' filter business. Established companies like Infineon, Sony, Taiyo Yuden, NXP, and Wisol also possess a market slice.

These companies generally have manufacturing capabilities for supplying LNA, switches, tuners, and filters, which gives OEMs an alternative to the RF front-end market leaders. Moreover, a variety of fabless companies are emerging, especially in China. Unisoc RDA, Airoha, Richwave, Smarter Micro, Huntersun, and Maxscend are several examples of players scoring more and more design wins amongst the Chinese OEM brands.

Obviously, foundries and design houses support this business model for compound semiconductor, silicon, and even acoustic wave filter.

For each player in the RF front-end, a market share breakdown by component is included in this report, along with a company outlook describing each player's development strategy for 5G and beyond.

Complete Teardown With

Detailed photos
Precise measurements
Complete bills-of-materials of the modules
Comparison between suppliers
Comparison between OEMs
Comparison with 2017 and 2018 smartphones

Key Topics Covered:

1. Glossary and definition

2. Table of contents

3. Report scope

4. What we got right, What we got wrong

5. Executive summary

6. Market forecasts

Market forecast in $M by RF component & air standard
Component forecast in Mu
Technology breakdown by component in Mu
Wafer start per technology in kw

7. Market trends

5G mobile market dynamics
5G use cases review
Status of network rollout
Current and future 5G spectrum

8. Market shares and supply chain

Smartphone and feature phone market share
Overall RF front end market share
Component per component market share
Players ranking with financial analysis
Company profile
Status on M&A
Ecosystem and business model analysis
Supply chain analysis (IDM, foundry and OSAT)

9. Technology trends

Radio access technology trend
PA technology status
Switch roadmap overview
Filter technology review (BAW vs emerging thin film SAW, IPD)
Antenna tuning technology status

10. Outlooks

Conclusions
Related reports

Companies Mentioned

Active Semi
Airoha
Akoustis
AMKOR
Apple
ASE
Asus
AT&T
AwinIC
Broadcom
CanaanTek
Cavendish Kinetics
China Mobile
China Telecom
China Unicom
Chip Bond
CoolPad
CSMC
Cypress
Docomo
EE
Elisa
Etisalat
GlobalFoundries
Google
HH Grace
HiSilicon
HMD Global
HTC
Huatian
Huawei
Huntersun
Inari Technology
Infineon
Intel
IQE
Itel
JCET
Jio
JRC
KDDI
KT
Kyocera
Lansus
Lenovo
LG
LG U+
Maxscend
MediaTek
Meizu
Mobile
Monaco Telecom
Murata
NationZ
NTT
NXP
ON Semiconductor
OnePlus
Ooredoo
Oppo
Orange
Psemi
Qorvo
Qualcomm
Quantenna
RDA
Resonant
Richwave
Samsung
Samsung Electro Mechanical
SAWNICS
Semiconductor
Shoulder
ShunSin technology
SK Telecom
Skyworks
Smarter Micro
SMIC
SoftBank
Soitec
Sony
SPIL
Spreadtrum
Sprint
ST Microecletronics
STC
Sunrise
Swisscom
T-Mobile
TaiyoYuden
TCL
TDK EPCOS
Tecno
Telefonica
Telia
Telstra
TIM
Toshiba
TowerJazz
Tpsco
TSMC
UMC
Unisem
USI
Vanchip
Verizon
VIVA
Vivo
Vodafone
WillSemi
WIN Semiconductors
WIPAM
Wisol
Xiaomi
Xpeedic
Yuzhen IC
ZTE

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/w2ft17

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager
[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470
For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630
For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets