Apple Poised to Pass Intel as Top Mobile Chipmaker

Apple is on pace to surge past Intel this year as the top seller of mobile processors used in a variety of computers and handheld devices, ranging from laptops to smartphones and tablets, according to new research from NPD In-Stat.

In a report scheduled for a March 27 release, NPD In-Stat defines "mobile processor" as "a range of processors used in mobile CE devices, often referred to as applications processors and central processing units (CPUs)." ARM is currently "the dominant processor architecture" for such chips, "with over 73 percent of the market and growing."

Intel's x86-based chips continue to command the lion's share of the notebook PC market, but laptops represent just part of the mobile processor market as laid out by the research firm. In addition to the smartphones and tablets that generally sport ARM-based chips like Apple's new A5X (pictured), Intel and fellow x86 vendor Advanced Micro Devices also have to contend with makers of ARM processors that power ereaders, handheld game consoles, and portable media players.

"Although the total available market for mobile processors continues to grow, the emergence of industry leaders in the high-growth mobile device segment is becoming a key factor in the success of processor vendors," Jim McGregor, NPD In-Stat's chief technology strategist, said in a statement. "Just having a captive market has propelled Apple into second place for the entire mobile processor market just behind industry leader Intel."

"Apple will likely capture the top spot in 2012, driven by its success in devices, such as the iPhone and iPad," he continued. "Other companies that benefitted greatly from new product releases or dominance by their OEM customers included Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Samsung."

Intel has promised to make into the handheld device market with its next-generation Atom System-on-a-Chip (SoC), codenamed Medfield. Unlike previous generations of Atom chips, Medfield can run Google's Android mobile operating system and Intel believes improvements in power consumption can position the SoC to compete with ultra low-power ARM-based application processors used in handheld devices that require the sort of battery life that equivalent x86 chips have yet to deliver.

But devices using Medfield won't arrive for some time—Lenovo's K800 Android smartphone is supposed to start selling in China sometime in the next three months, while Motorola has a Medfield-based smartphone, also running Android, that isn't coming until the second half of this year.

That puts Apple and other ARM chip makers in the driver's seat for 2012, according to NPD In-Stat. Particularly since the research firm projects smartphones and tablets to "represent the greatest opportunity for growth" in the mobile processor market, based on "a combined 75 percent growth in 2011 and 29.3 percent CAGR [compound annual growth rate] expected through 2016."

The mobile processor market as a whole grew more than 43 percent last year and NPD In-Stat forecasts a 22 percent CAGR for the market through 2016. In the years to come, however, there are likely to be major changes in the makeup of that market. The research firm said it "anticipates consolidation in the mobile processor market beginning in the 2013-2014 timeframe."