The Silicon game: Reaping 5G gold

In-built hardware can be a big amplifier for 5G adoption, reshaping connectivity paradigms and fuelling innovations in telecom, IoT, and beyond

- PRATIMA HARIGUNANI

Blackwell. Blackwell. Blackwell. In the world of processors, that is the sound that was abuzz for the last few weeks when NVIDIA opened a new bag of chips with a strong AI flavour. But it was equally intriguing to see Intel announcing Sierra Forest at MWC this year. With this Xeon processor for 5G core that is coming in 2024, Intel, the OG processor giant, has iterated that 5G would not be an alien name in the terra firma of silicon. Not very far off, was Nokia which shared in February 2024, how it achieved approximately 40% runtime energy savings - by tapping its cloud-native 5G core and Intel's Xeon processors and power management software.

There are more in this fray. In September last, Qualcomm extended its partnership with Apple to supply 5G chips for the iPhone until at least 2026. Intel continues its strategic partnership with Ericsson to manufacture custom 5G system-on-chips (SoCs) for Ericsson's telecom networking equipment. The likes of Viettel High Tech are developing their own 5G chipsets.

Indeed. The space of 5G-ready, and specially-brewed, silicon has been stirring up since the day Intel talked about manufacturing custom 5G SoCs (system-on-chip) for Ericsson. The specific 18A manufacturing technology to be used here has been stated to be ready by 2025. It was around 2019 when Intel used the words 5G base station chips. Today we are looking at estimates from MarketsandMarkets that peg the 5G Chipsets market at about USD 81 billion by 2028.

As per Mordor Intelligence, the Global 5G Chipset Market size is surmised at USD 44.37 billion in 2024 and expected to hit USD 109.97 billion by 2029. This report also explains how 5G chipsets are expected to be a critical component of 5G networks, to be rolled out at a massive scale for smartphone OEMs and telecom players.