MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which designs chips used in mobile phones, yesterday launched its new 5G Dimensity 820 system-on-chip (SoC), targeting mid-range to high-end smartphones.
The company expects the penetration of 5G technology to gain pace quickly this year and not be affected too much by the COVID-19 pandemic.
MediaTek said it aims to expand its 5G chip portfolio this year to cover phones of varying prices after it shipped its first 5G SoC, the Dimensity 1000, last quarter.
Photo courtesy of MediaTek Inc
The Dimensity 820, made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) on 7-nanometer technology, is designed for mid-range to high-end 5G phones.
MediaTek expects to infiltrate the mass market in the second half by offering its third 5G SoC series for entry-level phones.
“With the new Dimensity 820, we are making 5G much more accessible,” Lee Yenchi (李彥輯), assistant general manager of MediaTek’s wireless communications business unit, said in a statement.
Xiaomi Corp (小米) is to be an early adopter of Dimensity 820, with the Chinese firm scheduled to roll out its new Redmi 10X on Tuesday next week, Lu Wei-ping (盧偉冰), who is in charge of Xiaomi’s Redmi family, wrote online yesterday.
Lu was part of a MediaTek online news conference yesterday to launch the Dimenisty 820.
MediaTek expects China to be the world’s largest 5G smartphone market this year, with shipments ranging from 100 million to 120 million units, accounting for about 60 percent of worldwide 5G handsets of between 170 million and 200 million units this year, it said.
All of China’s major smartphone brands are to adopt MediaTek 5G chips this quarter, the company said last month, implying that Huawei Technologies Co (華為) would be one of them.
The Dimensity 820 is designed for global sub-6GHz 5G networks in Asia, North America and Europe, MediaTek said, adding that 5G momentum would grow every quarter this year.
MediaTek stock surged 7.18 percent to close at NT$440.5 yesterday amid speculation that the firm might be the major beneficiary from the US tightening curbs on Huawei’s access to chip supplies, as Huawei could buy more chips from MediaTek rather than from its chip subsidiary Hisilicon Technologies Co (海思).
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