01 overview of mobile processor technology
Compared with desktop processors, mobile processors pay more attention to energy efficiency. They are characterized by low voltage, low heat and low power consumption. They are constantly improving their performance and begin to occupy the market of traditional desktop processors.
With the continuous improvement of performance and ecology, RISC architecture is also gradually entering the PC, desktop and server fields dominated by CISC, and arm architecture will shine.
Due to the performance growth stall of Moore’s law and the growing gap between the diversified needs of mobile terminals, mobile processors have entered the era of great integration integrating multiple chips, and heterogeneous computing and SOC have become the mainstream.
With the characteristics of miniaturization, integration of heterogeneous chips, fast product launch time and low cost, SIP is consistent with the lag of consumer electronics.
02 mobile processor industry chain
Upstream of the mobile processor industry chain are chip design resources, chip manufacturing equipment and raw materials including silicon wafer and photoresist; The middle reaches are chip integration design, chip manufacturing, packaging and testing, etc; Downstream are laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.
The upstream industrial chain of the mobile processor industry is highly integrated with semiconductors and chips, which has the remarkable characteristics of global division of labor. EDA and IP cores are important upstream supports for mobile processors. At present, there is a significant gap between Chinese manufacturers and overseas giants.
The manufacturers in the middle reaches of the mobile processor industry chain are divided into IP suppliers, fabless, foundry, packaging and testing manufacturers and IDM manufacturers throughout the whole process.
MediaTek and Qualcomm provide more than 50% of the shipments of mobile processors for mobile phones. Apple’s market share is almost unchanged. Samsung and Huawei Hisilicon have reduced their market share due to production yield and production ban respectively.
Notebook mobile processors have been monopolized by Intel and AMD for a long time, but with the increasing market recognition of Apple ml series, more mobile processor manufacturers based on arm began to enter notebook computers.
