The global tablet processor market experienced an 83% year-on-year growth compared with 2012, reaching $2.7 billion, according to a Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service report.
The study examined processor unit shipments, revenues and average selling price (ASP) data for 14 chip vendors across stand-alone and integrated processor categories up to the second quarter of 2013.
Apple continued to lead the tablet applications processor market with a revenue share of 48% in 2012.
Other vendors in the top five were NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, Samsung and Qualcomm, according to the market research firm.
A small number of Chinese tablet chip vendors managed to garner 20% volume share between them.
Strategy Analytics’ senior analyst, Sravan Kundojjala, said NVIDIA was the leader in the non-iPad tablet market with a revenue share of 27% in 2012.
Kundojjala explained: "NVIDIA scored high-profile design-wins such as the Google Nexus 7 and Microsoft Surface RT, which fueled 83 percent year-on-year growth in its tablet applications processor shipments in 2012. Strategy Analytics states that NVIDIA is well-positioned to address the high-performance tablet market with its new Tegra 4 chip."
Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies’ service director, Stuart Robinson, believes that Intel and Qualcomm did not cash in on the tablet market in 2012.
"We estimate that Qualcomm and Intel together captured less than 5% volume share in the tablet applications processor market in 2012. Strategy Analytics states that Intel and Qualcomm’s tablet success hinges on Microsoft Windows tablet operating system’s take off," Robinson added.
