Mobile phone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday unveiled its first 5G system-on-a-chip (SoC) product, dubbed the Dimensity 1000, in preparation for the launch of 5G phones by Chinese customers during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The launch of the flagship 5G solution is a significant step for MediaTek, indicating that the company has for the first time caught up with Qualcomm Inc in migrating to next-generation wireless technology.
The Hsinchu-based company lagged behind its major rival in rolling out 2G, 3G and 4G chips, after entering the mobile phone chip business 14 years ago.
Photo: CNA
MediaTek said that it has invested NT$100 billion (US$3.28 billion) in researching and developing the 5G chip.
The Dimensity 1000 is to be produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) using 7-nanometer process technology, the most advanced technology available.
“This [Dimensity 1000] is our first 5G SoC product. We will have a full series of 5G SoC products in the future, covering different segments,” MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a media briefing in Taipei.
Apart from China, MediaTek also aims to sell its 5G solutions to Europe, the US and South Korea, he said.
Tsai declined to confirm speculation that Samsung Electronics Co is a potential customer for the 5G chips, but said that 5G would be an important driver of company growth next year.
Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀移動), Vivo Electronics Corp (維沃移動通信) and China Mobile Ltd (中國移動), among other Chinese customers, appeared in a MediaTek video to express their excitement about the launch of the 5G SoC.
“The mobile phone is certainly the biggest and the first application for 5G [technology] in the initial stage, but not the only application,” Tsai said. “MediaTek plans to expand 5G [technology] beyond mobile phones to areas such as networking CPE [customer-premises equipment].”
MediaTek’s collaboration with Intel Corp was the first step in this expansion, Tsai added.
On Monday, Intel said that it has partnered with MediaTek on the development, certification and support of 5G modems for PCs.
The announcement came seven months after the US chip giant decided to exit the 5G mobile modem market to focus on 5G modems for PCs and smart home applications.
Dell Inc and HP Inc are expected to be among the first original equipment manufacturers in early 2021 to deliver laptops powered by Intel and MediaTek’s 5G solutions, the two companies said in a joint statement said.
Intel’s endorsement “suggests that MediaTek’s 5G technology is highly competitive,” Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) analyst Steve Huang (黃柏璁) said in a report.
Intel sold its 5G modem business to Apple Inc in July, Huang added.
“MediaTek’s 5G modem has the potential to penetrate into newer addressable markets, such as the Internet of Things and self-driving vehicles,” Huang said.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of last month, surpassing the US$600 billion mark for the first time, the central bank said yesterday. Last month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose US$5.51 billion from a month earlier to reach US$602.94 billion due to an increase in returns from the central bank’s portfolio management, the movement of other foreign currencies in the portfolio against the US dollar and the bank’s efforts to smooth the volatility of the New Taiwan dollar. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民)said a rate cut cycle launched by the US Federal Reserve
Handset camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) on Sunday reported a 6.71 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for the third quarter, despite revenue last month hitting the highest level in 11 months. Third-quarter revenue was NT$17.68 billion (US$581.2 million), compared with NT$18.95 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The figure was in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$17.9 billion, but missed the market consensus estimate of NT$18.97 billion. The third-quarter revenue was a 51.44 percent increase from NT$11.67 billion in the second quarter, as the quarter is usually the peak
The US government on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, including offshoots of a US chip firm, accusing the businesses of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or proxies. The US Department of Commerce included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc (艾睿電子) on its so-called entity list published on the federal register for facilitating purchases by Iran’s proxies of US tech. Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said that the subsidiaries have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations and his company is discussing with the US Bureau of
Pegatron Corp (和碩), a key assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, on Thursday reported a 12.3 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for last quarter to NT$257.86 billion (US$8.44 billion), but it expects revenue to improve in the second half on traditional holiday demand. The fourth quarter is usually the peak season for its communications products, a company official said on condition of anonymity. As Apple released its new iPhone 17 series early last month, sales in the communications segment rose sequentially last month, the official said. Shipments to Apple have been stable and in line with earlier expectations, they said. Pegatron shipped 2.4 million notebook
RSS