Shipments of smartphone-use application processors in China are expected to decline 19.8% sequentially to 136 million units in the first quarter of 2016, according to Digitimes Research.
Device vendors already pre-stocked sufficient inventory in the fourth quarter of 2015, and have slowed down their pace of orders, said Digitimes Research. Also, fewer working days caused by the Lunar New Year holidays will lead to lower production in the first quarter.
In the first quarter, Spreadtrum will suffer a shipment decline which will be larger than its competitors', Digitimes Research indicated. Spreadtrum's shipment share will slide 0.8pp on quarter to 25.8%.
MediaTek will post a nearly 20% shipment decline in the first quarter compared to fourth-quarter 2015, Digitimes Research said. Despite the shipment drop, MediaTek's shipment share will climb 0.6pp on quarter to 39%.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm's shipments will decrease around 10% sequentially in the first quarter of 2016, but its shipment share will rise to 22.8%, Digitimes Research noted.
This article is an excerpt from a Digitimes Research Special Report (China smartphone AP shipments - 4Q 2015). Visit our latest Special reports.