The GSA’s data highlights steady growth in the number of 5G modem chipsets (both discrete modems and integrated mobile processors/platforms) from Q4 2018 to Q1 2025.
Growth Trends:
Growth: The number of 5G NR mobile processors and platforms rose from 3 in Q4 2018 to 108 by Q1 2025, while discrete 5G NR modems grew from 0 to 20 over the same period.
Acceleration Post-2020: There is a significant acceleration in new product availability starting from 2020, especially in integrated 5G processors.
Plateau in Discrete Modems: The number of discrete modems reached 17 by Q2 2021 and remained relatively flat, stabilizing at 20 by Q4 2023, indicating a shift in industry preference towards integrated platforms.
Dominance of Integrated Solutions: 5G mobile processors and platforms have seen much stronger growth compared to discrete modems, reflecting a market trend toward SoC (system-on-chip) designs that combine modem, CPU, and GPU for efficiency and performance.
Competitive Landscape: Companies like Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, and Huawei (HiSilicon), along with Unisoc, Rockchip, and Autotalks, have continuously expanded their 5G chipset portfolios.
Widespread Standalone 5G Support:
102 chipsets (including mobile processors, platforms, modems, and IoT chipsets) support 5G Standalone (SA) networks. These account for 79 percent of all 5G chipsets, reflecting growing industry alignment with SA infrastructure.
Sub-6 GHz Dominance:
Sub-6 GHz remains the most widely supported band, with 98 chipsets offering support. Specifically, 77 mobile processors/platforms and 19 cellular modems (non-IoT) support this spectrum band.
Millimeter-Wave Uptake Increasing:
66 chipsets support millimeter-wave (mmWave), comprising 49 mobile processors and 16 cellular modems, indicating growing attention toward high-bandwidth use cases despite slower uptake compared to sub-6 GHz.
Carrier Aggregation Still Developing:
44 mobile processors and 5 modems support NR downlink carrier aggregation, showing that while progress is steady, this advanced feature is still maturing in broader chipset availability.
VoNR Adoption in Early Stages:
Only 21 chipsets (all mobile processors) have declared support for Voice over New Radio (VoNR), and none among cellular modems — indicating VoNR support is still limited but emerging.
GSA’s data highlights evolving trends in support for eMBMS (evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services) and VoLTE (Voice over LTE) across various chipset categories:
Mobile Processors and Platforms (Non-IoT-specific):
VoLTE support is strong, with 147 chipsets (46 percent) indicating support.
eMBMS support is present in 86 chipsets (27 percent), reflecting moderate but declining adoption, likely due to limited commercial deployment of eMBMS services globally.
Cellular Modems (Non-IoT-specific):
VoLTE support is observed in 36 percent (16 chipsets), while eMBMS support is seen in 20 percent (9 chipsets).
This indicates a lower overall emphasis on voice and broadcast features in modem-only products, possibly due to their focused use cases in data-dominant applications.
3GPP IoT Chipsets:
VoLTE support is available in 30 percent (14 chipsets), enabling voice capability in IoT environments where NB-IoT or LTE-M is in use.
eMBMS support is absent (0 percent), reinforcing that broadcast services are not prioritized in narrowband or low-power IoT scenarios.
LTE Chipset Ecosystem (Excluding 5G-capable)
GSA has recorded 374 LTE mobile processors and platforms from 26 vendors (excluding IoT and 5G-capable chipsets). This forms the largest segment in their chipset database.
41 discrete LTE modems (non-integrated) are available from 8 vendors, underscoring a focused but smaller market for standalone LTE modems.
Some chipsets remain in pre-commercial stages, indicating ongoing investment and development from vendors such as Autotalks, GCT, MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Tsinghua Unigroup.
GSA has identified 51 commercially available chipsets developed specifically for machine-to-machine and IoT applications, supporting 3GPP LTE-based standards like Cat-NB1/NB2, Cat-M1, and Cat-1.
Cat-NB1 or Cat-NB2 chipsets dominate the market, supported by 81 percent (30 chipsets). This highlights strong industry preference for narrowband IoT, which offers extended coverage, low power consumption, and cost efficiency — ideal for massive IoT deployments such as smart meters and asset trackers.
Cat-M1 is supported by 32 percent (12 chipsets). While not as widespread as NB-IoT, Cat-M1 remains relevant for applications that require higher data rates, mobility, and voice support (e.g., wearables and connected health devices).
Cat-1 has 24 percent support (9 chipsets), indicating moderate interest. It is typically favored in markets where existing LTE infrastructure is reused and backward compatibility is essential.
The trend indicates a strong shift toward low-power wide-area (LPWA) technologies, with Cat-NB1/NB2 leading as the preferred standard for scalable and energy-efficient IoT solutions.
TelecomLead.com News Desk
