Taiwan's IC design houses are doubling down their efforts developing related ICs for 5G phones, as the global smartphone shipments powered by the 5G technology are set to boom in 2021, according to industry sources.

In 2020, global 5G phone shipments could well surpass 200 million units, with the possibility of reaching 250 million units, according to the latest estimate of Digitimes Research.

The 5G phone shipment momentum is set to continue into 2021, pushing 5G phone shipments worldwide to 470 million units in the year, says Digitimes Research, citing robust 5G phone sales in China and brisk demand for 5G-enabled iPhone 12 lineup around the world.

Qualcomm is even more optimistic, expecting global 5G phone shipments to top over 750 million units in 2022, the sources said.

In addition to booming shipments, the 5G technology has ushered in upgrade demand for peripheral chips to enable new functionalities, and related IC suppliers are keen on developing next-generation fingerprint sensing chips, OLED driver ICs, TDDI chips, ambient light sensors, fast-charging chips, and 5G modem and baseband chip solutions for 5G phones.

Besides, handset vendors are expected to launch more midrange and high-end 5G phones to ramp up their market share in 2021, said the sources.

By DIGITIMES