- Quectel and Qualcomm maintain a leading position in the market share of cellular IoT module suppliers and chipset players, respectively.
- In terms of revenue, automotive, router/CPE and industry are the top three applications.
- In this quarter, 5G accounted for nearly 20% of IoT module revenue.
According to Counterpoint’s latest research on global cellular IoT modules, chipsets and application trackers, global cellular IoT module shipments in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 50% year-on-year and 11% month-on-month.
Due to the global control of the COVID-19 pandemic during this period, the market experienced a huge rebound this quarter. Europe, North America, and Japan have achieved healthy growth every year, while Latin America is the only region that has no revenue growth in the first quarter of 2021. China maintains a leading position in various regions, and the demand for cellular IoT modules continues to grow.
Research analyst Soumen Mandal pointed out when commenting on market dynamics:
“Quectel continues to lead the ranking of global cellular IoT module suppliers in terms of quantity and revenue. This Shanghai-based supplier increased shipments and revenue by 67% and 78%, respectively, during the quarter.”
“Thales continues to maintain its second place. 5G revenue increased by more than 80% month-on-month, helping Thales to narrow the gap with the No. 1 Quectel and maintain the gap with Fibocom. Fibocom, the third largest module supplier, Global expansion outside of China focuses on the areas of telematics, routers and PCs. We can expect Fibocom and Thales to compete fiercely in the second place in revenue share in the next few quarters.”
Figure 1: Suppliers’ global cellular IoT module revenue share in the first quarter of 2021
Source: Counterpoint Global Cellular IoT Modules, Chipsets and Application Trackers, Q1 2021
Mandal added:
“Some leading incumbents, such as Telit and Sierra Wireless, continue to focus on specific Western markets, applications and expand their service revenue. Telit and Sierra have both divested their automotive business. Sierra’s automotive module business was led by Fibocom last year The consortium of investors acquired by the company established Rolling Wireless, which quickly grew into the world’s fifth largest supplier of cellular IoT modules, serving high-ASP automotive applications. With leading automakers such as Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Renault-Nissan and Stellatis Increasing contracts and expanding operations with lower costs and higher quality are helping Rolling Wireless increase market share.”
The following exhibition shows the competitive dynamics of IoT module suppliers in different regions. There is a big difference between the Eastern and Western markets. These dynamics depend on the supplier’s IoT application focus, the breadth and depth of the product portfolio, channel partnerships, cross-operator certification, and the quality of the FAE (Field Application Engineer) teams in their respective regions.
Figure 2: Ranking of global cellular IoT module suppliers’ shipments in major regions in the first quarter of 2021
Source: Counterpoint regional cellular IoT modules, chipsets and application trackers, first quarter of 2021
When commenting on the cellular IoT module chipset supplier landscape, Neil Shah, vice president of research, pointed out:
“Although modules based on LPWA technologies such as NB-IoT and LTE-M continue to grow above the market average, LTE-Cat 1 and 5G became the fastest growing cellular technology in the Internet of Things this quarter. This adoption helped Qualcomm further consolidate In order to gain its dominant position, it occupies nearly half of the market in terms of quantity, and provides these module suppliers with different types of cellular IoT chipset solutions.”
Shah added:
“Other well-known suppliers that have made great strides in this market are Shanghai-based ASR Microelectronics, and Unisoc, which has won more and more design victories in the 4G Cat 1 market segment. French chipset manufacturer Sequans is also in growth mode. Possess a strong 4G broadband, 4G Cat-1, LPWA and 5G chipset and module combination. This will drive fierce competition in the fast-growing LTE Cat-1 market segment, where the average selling price of these modules is less than $10. MediaTek is expected to increase Its share in 4G Cat 4, 4G Cat other and 5G technologies. With the increase of IoT applications and project implementation, more and more chipset manufacturers are entering this field. GCT Semiconductor and Xinyi Semiconductor are the market segments Newest entrants. It will be interesting to see if these new entrants can establish partnerships with larger module suppliers for further development.”
Currently, Counterpoint is tracking and forecasting the shipment volume and revenue performance of 65+ IoT module suppliers in 10 major regions every quarter, and the revenue performance of more than 12 chipset vendors, as well as more than 18 IoT applications. In 2025.
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