The Counterpoint Research Team has noted soaring demand for 5G and LTE-Cat 1 Modules as the primary reason behind the growth
Global cellular IoT module shipments increased by 50 per cent YoY and 11 per cent QoQ during Q1 2021, according to the latest research by Counterpoint. The market made a tremendous comeback during the quarter as the COVID-19 pandemic was under control globally in that period.
“While modules based on LPWA technologies such as NB-IoT and LTE-M continued to grow above the market average, LTE-Cat 1 and 5G became the fastest-growing cellular technologies in the IoT space this quarter,” noted Counterpoint’s vice president of research Neil Shah.
China maintains lead
Europe, North America and Japan registered healthy growth annually while Latin America was the only region that did not grow in terms of revenue during Q1 2021. China maintained its lead across geographies with a growing demand for cellular IoT modules.
Quectel continues to lead the global cellular IoT module vendor rankings in terms of volume and revenue. The Shanghai-based vendor saw its shipments and revenues climb 67 per cent and 78 per cent respectively during the quarter. Thales continued to maintain its second position. 5G revenues increased by more than 80 per cent QoQ, which helped Thales decrease the gap with top-ranked Quectel and maintain the gap with Fibocom.
“The third-largest module vendor, Fibocom, is expanding globally beyond China with a strong focus on telematics, router and PC segments. We can expect strong competition between Fibocom and Thales in coming quarters for the second position in terms of revenue share,” said Counterpoint’s research analyst Soumen Mandal.
Incumbents such as Telit and Sierra Wireless continue to stay focused on specific Western markets, applications and expanding their services revenue. Both Telit and Sierra have divested their automotive businesses. Sierra’s automotive module business was acquired last year by a consortium of investors led by Fibocom to form Rolling Wireless, which quickly grew to become the fifth largest cellular IoT module vendor globally, serving high-ASP automotive applications.
“The rising contracts with leading automakers like Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Renault-Nissan and Stellantis, and scaling up of operations with a lower cost and higher quality are helping Rolling Wireless increase market share,” added Mandal.
Other notable vendors making strides in this market are Shanghai-based ASR Microelectronics, and Unisoc with growing design wins in the 4G Cat 1 segment. French chipset manufacturer Sequans is also in a growth mode with a robust 4G broadband, 4G Cat-1, LPWA, and 5G chipset and module portfolio. This should drive significant competition in the fast-growing LTE Cat-1 segment with the ASP of these modules falling below $10. MediaTek is expected to improve its share over 4G Cat 4, 4G Cat other and 5G technology.
“As IoT applications and project implementations are increasing, more chipset players are entering this space. GCT Semiconductor and XINYI Semi are the latest entrants in this segment. It will be interesting to see whether these new entrants are able to strike partnerships with larger module vendors to grow further,” added Shah.
