MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s biggest handset chipmaker, yesterday signed an agreement to invest 300 million yuan (US$48.9 million) in a Chinese government fund in an effort to benefit from China’s fast-growing semiconductor industry.
The fund, initiated by the Shanghai City Government and Chinese venture capital firm Summitview Capital (武岳峰資本), will have 3 billion yuan in funding during the initial phase and will gradually increase to 10 billion yuan, MediaTek said in a statement.
Other than MediaTek, Shanghai Jiading Venture Capital Fund (上海嘉定創業投資), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), Tsinghua University’s Tsinghua Holdings Co (清華控股) and Knight Capital of the US also joined as investors in the fund.
“By investing in this fund, MediaTek aims to deepen the cooperation and partnership between Taiwan and China and to gain a better market position in the world’s semiconductor industry,” company chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) said in the statement.
Over the past few years, the collaboration between Taiwan and China in the information technology sector has helped boost the growth of companies from both sides, Tsai said.
The partnership has also helped certain Chinese companies rise to be some of the world’s biggest brands, he said.
MediaTek counts China’s leading mobile phone makers — including China’s Lenovo Group (聯想) and Xiaomi Corp (小米) — as its clients.
Xiaomi ranked as the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor last quarter, tracking behind Samsung Electronics Corp and Apple Inc, according to market researcher International Data Corp’s (IDC) tallies.
Lenovo ranked fourth, IDC figures showed.
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