A recent research report has revealed that smartphone applications processor revenue showed 77% year-over-year growth to reach $4.52 billion in 2010. This 2010 market surge helped most applications processor vendors grow in terms of both revenue and unit volume.

According to reports, both Qualcomm and Samsung registered triple-digit unit shipment growth in 2010, despite their contrasting approaches to the smartphone applications processor market. Qualcomm led the overall applications processor market with 41% revenue share, followed by TI with 27% and Samsung with 19%. Also, the baseband-integrated applications processors continued to gain share, accounting for 74% of total 2010 smartphone applications processor revenues.

Researchers recognize Qualcomm as a top-tier supplier in the smartphone applications processor market in 2010, due to its active participation in the multiple software ecosystems and its highly integrated Snapdragon processors. They added, in their view, Qualcomm has a two-to-three year advantage over most of its competitors in terms of integration; and is ideally situated for further share gains from on-going radio technology shifts, such as HSPA+ and LTE.

With strengthening product portfolios and increasing competition, 2011 is shaping into an interesting year for the applications processor market. According to research, applications processor vendors should build competitive barriers by investing in integration, graphics processing technologies, multi-core processors and software expertise. Otherwise, they risk becoming commoditized, since the entry barrier is relatively low for new vendors to enter into the ARM-based chip.