The global market for application processors (AP) will rise 8.54% in 2016, according to Digitimes Research. Growth of demand for applications such as automotive electronics and smartwatches will outperform that for smartphones.
The global AP market is expected to register a slower-than-expected 7.89% increase in 2015, due mainly to falling shipments of tablet PCs worldwide and decelerating smartphone shipment growth, said Digitimes Research. Shipments to smartphones will continue to account for the majority of the overall AP shipments in 2015 and 2016, making up more than 80% of the shipments.
In addition, Intel's AP shipments for 2016 will outperform rivals' with shipment growth of 25% buoyed by its low-priced 4G solutions. Qualcomm and MediaTek are expected to generate increases of 7.5% and 9%, respectively, in AP shipments for 2016, while Spreadtrum's AP shipments will rise a higher 15%, according to Digitimes Research.
In 2015, 64-bit processors have entered the mainstream, Digitimes Research indicated. Meanwhile, chips built using advanced 14/16 process technology have accounted for more than 13% of the total AP shipments this year.