Last week we published our cellular baseband processor market share numbers for Q2 2011 and based on our estimates total baseband revenues jumped 17.5 percent to reach $3.63 billion in Q2 2011.

Here are some highlights from our Cellular Baseband Market Share Tracker:

• Qualcomm ranked number one with 42 percent revenue share on the strength of its broad baseband product portfolio, covering various interface technologies including GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, HSPA+ and LTE. Qualcomm's multi-mode LTE baseband product, MDM9x00, performed well in Q2 2011 and we estimate that Qualcomm had close to one-third unit shipment share in the LTE baseband market in Q2 2011. We expect Qualcomm's upcoming LTE Snapdragon processors will further boost the company's share in LTE basebands. During the quarter Qualcomm's increased sales to smartphone vendors helped the company to sustain its average selling prices (ASPs).

• Intel ranked number two with 17 percent revenue share in Q2 2011 with the help of its relationships with top-tier handset manufacturers. Intel's 3G shipments accounted for over one-third of company's total baseband shipments in Q2 2011 and firmly established the company as a strong number two to Qualcomm. Intel's 21 Mbps HSPA+ platform, XMM6260, performed well and the company ramped up well with high-profile design-wins such as the Samsung Galaxy S II. We believe that the XMM6260 is a strong contender for the Apple iPhone 5 despite competition from Qualcomm.

• MediaTek, Texas Instruments and ST-Ericsson also featured in our top-five revenue share rankings in Q2 2011. MediaTek’s baseband revenues declined 14 percent in Q2 2011 compared to Q2 2010 due to competitive pressures from MStar and Spreadtrum and the company's subdued participation in the W-CDMA market. ST-Ericsson showed signs of improvements with new design-wins for its renewed product portfolio, but the complete recovery is not expected to happen until late 2012, in our view.

• Broadcom and Spreadtrum continue to be the fastest growing baseband companies and showed triple-digit unit shipment growth in Q2 2011. We believe that over the next few years both companies can further their market share by expanding into 3G / 4G markets. Marvell, Icera (NVIDIA) and VIA Telecom also made good progress in Q2 2011.

Overall, the baseband market held up well in Q2 2011 and we believe that powerful secular growth trends such as shifts to new radio technologies (HSPA+ and LTE) will continue to fuel the growth in the next few years.