Marvell, Intel, Qualcomm, AMD, ARM and Nvidia Fight for Share of RAN Baseband Market

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Apr 29, 2024, 08:48 ET

New report tracking shipments, revenue, and market share for BBU/DU/CU chip vendors

CAMPBELL, Calif., April 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile Experts released a new report and forecast today, tracking the market shares and shipments of baseband chips in the 4G/5G infrastructure market. This complex market area involves deep technical analysis and a clear understanding of the deployment trends in Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment.

Revenue for Baseband Semiconductors (BBU/DU/CU only, not including RU)

In particular, Mobile Experts has been closely tracking the transition of the RAN market from customized computing platforms (baseband processors) to virtualization, where off-the-shelf semiconductors are used. Both x86-based and ARM-based semiconductors come into play in the virtual RAN (vRAN) market.

"The Mobile Experts database has been tracking radio shipments accurately for many years, but during the past three years we have developed the ability to track baseband semiconductors as well," commented Joe Madden, Principal Analyst at Mobile Experts. "By correlating shipments of radio components and systems with the number of baseband chips used by each vendor, we now have a very accurate view of the market for ASICs, semi-custom ICs, and off-the-shelf chip alternatives."

This new report, Semiconductors for BBU/DU/CU 2024, includes forecasts for 4G, 5G, and 6G baseband Systems on Chip (SoCs), including detailed breakdowns by air interface support, by chip architecture, by level of customization, and highlighting chips for virtualization and for dedicated systems. The forecast zooms in to focus on in-line and look-aside acceleration approaches to identify how the market will adopt new ways of handling the real-time data flow.

This new semiconductor report complements the recent Mobile Experts report on Virtual RAN, in which the company projected the future adoption of Cloud RAN virtualization in the 5G and 6G market, and forecasted the vDU and vCU software revenue. Subscribers to both reports will have a clear picture of how the architecture of a mobile base station will change from 5G to 6G in terms of hardware and software development.

The new report provides some insightful analysis of the R&D cost associated with custom ASIC development, as CMOS moves down to 3 nm nodes and below. With the extremely high cost of chip development, Mobile Experts is now predicting a new path for chip development in the mobile infrastructure market. The key will be to take advantage of IP blocks that are already hardened on 3 nm chips for other bigger markets such as the data center.

Also, this report provides a view of the semiconductors to be used in RAN equipment for AI related to 5G and 6G system operation. Artificial Intelligence is already being used in 5G base station equipment to enhance capacity, and this report provides details on how the chip market benefits from this trend.

Subscribers to Mobile Experts research will receive:
Full access to the 50-page Semiconductors for BBU/DU/CU 2024;
40 comprehensive charts and figures;
An Excel file with details of the 8-year forecast (2023-2032)
Access to the analysts behind the reports.

To learn more about this report, click here.

About Mobile Experts Inc.:

Mobile Experts provides insightful market analysis for the mobile infrastructure and mobile handset markets. Recent publications focus on Macro and Massive MIMO Base Stations, ORAN, Virtual RAN, Industrial Private Cellular, Small Cells and more.

Contact:
Rachel Winningham
Mobile Experts Inc.
[email protected]
+1 (408) 374-0690
www.mobile-experts.net

SOURCE Mobile Experts Inc