Samsung competes with Apple on rising non-terrestrial network market

The global market for non-terrestrial networks (NTN), or communications systems that use satellites to text and make phone calls even in places where communication and the internet are unavailable such as deserts, seas and mountains, is expected to reach 11.5 trillion won ($8.8 billion).

Market analysts say Samsung Electronics Co. will wage a fierce battle in this sector with Apple, Qualcomm and MediaTek.

The Taiwan-based market research company TrendForce on Monday said the global NTN market is expected to see annual growth of 7% from $4.9 billion this year to $8.8 billion in 2026. The expected market boom is thanks to brisk corporate interest in satellite internet, a field seeing more companies enter like SpaceX of the US, which has launched 4,002 Starlink satellites into orbit, TrendForce added.

A smartphone equipped with an NTN technology-using modem chip, which allows communications functions between mobile devices and PCs, can directly communicate with Starlink satellites instead of ground base stations. For example, a smartphone user can send and receive photos and data in the middle of a desert with no such station.

In February, the system large-scale integration division of Samsung Electronics said it secured 5G NTN standard technology that it verified through its application to the company's new 5G-grade Exynos Modem 5300. Commercial use of this modem chip that applies this technology is planned by installing it in smartphones such as the Galaxy line.

Apple entered the NTN market earlier than its South Korean competitor by applying related technology to its iPhone 14 series. Qualcomm is also mulling installing from the year's second half the 5G modem Snapdragon X75, which uses the NTN technology Snapdragon Satellite, in smartphones such as those of Chinese brands Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo.

MediaTek of Taiwan is also discussing with the British smartphone maker Bullitt Group to mount an NTN technology-using modem on Motorola smartphones.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com