MediaTek Inc (聯發科) plans to mass-produce its first 5G single-chip product in March next year, making the chipmaker one of the world’s leading suppliers of 5G chips.
The company’s new chip, which was unveiled at Computex Taipei late last month, would be the world’s first 5G system-on-chip (SoC) to support sub-6 gigahertz bandwidth, meaning that MediaTek would have a good chance of overtaking Qualcomm Inc, which it lagged behind during the 4G era.
“We plan to test the 5G single chip in the fourth quarter, before starting mass production in March next year,” MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told an annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu on Friday.
“We are confident that our 5G single chip is very competitive. We are among the leading group [of 5G technology developers],” Tsai said.
MediaTek said it plans to produce its 5G chips using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) advanced 7 nanometer technology.
The new chips would fall under a new category, independent from its 4G P and X-series branding, the company said.
Tsai also warned about hardships ahead.
“For the whole semiconductor industry, this year will be a tough year, with the memory sector suffering a deep decline,” he said.
MediaTek is maintaining its operations as normal and its second-quarter outlook has not changed, Tsai said.
“This year is a volatile period. The company will focus on improving its fundamentals,” he said.
MediaTek’s long-term technology development investments should bear fruit this year, Tsai said.
New technologies — including 5G, Wi-Fi 6, application-specific IC (ASIC) and automotive electronics — would begin contributing to revenue from this year, he said.
MediaTek expects 5G, ASIC and Artificial Intelligence of Things to contribute to more than 10 percent of the company’s total revenue this year.
MediaTek said it would allocate 24 percent of its revenue to research and development (R&D), adding that it has invested NT$220 billion (US$6.98 billion) on R&D in the past four years.
The company would continue to focus on global market deployment, enhancing its product portfolios and optimizing its profit structure, Tsai said.
Shareholders on Friday approved the company’s distribution of a cash dividend of NT$9 per share, including NT$3 from the company’s capital surplus.
MediaTek reported that net profit dropped about 14 percent annually to NT$20.78 billion last year, or earnings per share of NT$13.26. However, gross margin climbed to 38.5 percent last year from 35.6 percent in 2017.
The cash dividend represented a 2.93 percent dividend yield based on the stock’s closing price of NT$307 on Friday.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
RSS