Mobile phone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said that it has invested NT$100 billion (US$3.23 billion) — part of which was spent on a team of 3,000 engineers — to grow its 5G technological capabilities and capture the market in its prime.
The company entered the mobile phone chip market in 2000, offering 2G chips.
As each new generation of wireless technology has been released since, the company has been striving to catch up with rivals such as Qualcomm Inc.
Photo: Cho Yi-chun, Taipei Times
Three years ago, the company started to allocate 20 to 30 percent of its annual research and development spending to 5G technology, MediaTek chief financial officer David Ku (顧大為) said, adding that the company budgeted between NT$50 billion and NT$60 billion per year for research and development.
“We will continue expanding our 5G team over time,” Ku said.
“Development of our 5G chips is going smoothly. Everything is on schedule,” he added.
MediaTek is scheduled release its first 5G single-chip product in the first quarter of next year, Ku said.
The chipmaker said it plans to release more details about the chip in December, which would be based on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) 7-nanometer technology.
That is just the first step, as MediaTek said it plans to launch a full series of 5G chips next year.
“MediaTek is definitely one of the leading 5G technology developers in the world,” MediaTek chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) told reporters at the company’s headquarters in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), which houses the company’s new 5G fabs.
MediaTek estimated that 5G smartphone shipments would reach 140 million units next year, with the bulk, or 100 million phones, going to China, where MediaTek has built a stronghold over the years.
The company opened its 5G labs in Hsinchu Science Park yesterday, demonstrating to reporters mobile phone chips tested on equipment similar to the base stations used by North American and Japanese telecoms.
Commenting on a US-China trade dispute, MediaTek said that it would not benefit from the situation.
The company’s concern would be whether the trade dispute reduces consumers’ willingness to buy new smartphones, Ku said.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
RSS