The global tablet Applications Processor (AP) market grew 2% year-over-year to reach $1.9 billion, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics. And Apple gained even more ground with its custom-made iPad processors, according to the research group.
Apple, Qualcomm, Intel, MediaTek, and Samsung held the top five revenue share spots in the tablet AP market in 2019. Apple gained market share and extended its tablet AP market share leadership with 44% revenue share in 2019 followed by Qualcomm and Intel, each with 16%revenue share. By the way, an AP is a special kind of microprocessor. One difference between a microprocessor and an application processor is their physical packaging.
Many microprocessors are standard ICs with a standard part number. An IC is a set of circuits constructed on a single semiconductor wafer or chip, in which the components are interconnected to perform a given function
In contrast, mobile application processors are more typically systems on a chip (SoC) that incorporate functions of one or more processor cores along with other ancillary functions.