Smartphones, MIDs, and mini-notes require a highlevel functionality, programmability, and connectivity. As a result, these mobile consumer devices are increasingly shifting toward merchant market processors, reports In-Stat. Merchant market processors offer higher levels of integration and performance while reducing the device Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEMs) cost and time to market. This is evident as the mobile market for merchant processing solutions is expected to grow at a 22.3% CAGR through 2013 with the highest total unit growth resulting from handheld applications like smartphones and MIDs. By 2013, the market is projected to grow to about 775 million units.

"Integration will be a key trend for future devices with multiple cores, graphics/multimedia acceleration, and I/O all continuing to be integrated into the processor," says Jim McGregor, In-Stat analyst. "Likewise, baseband functionality will also be integrated into mobile processors for all applications except PCs, which are less reliant on the connectivity and smaller device footprint."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

- Among smartphones, 87% will feature mobile processors with integrated baseband functionality by 2013.
- The estimated value of the processing, graphics/multimedia, and baseband functions will all increase at double-digit growth rates over the next few years.
- The battle for the fast-growing mobile semiconductor market will intensify in late 2009 with the introduction of new processors from each camp—ARM and x86.

For more information on this research visit http://www.instat.com