MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s biggest supplier of chips used in smartphones, plans to launch its new flagship 5G chip by February in a bid to capture a bigger share of the rapidly growing market, a company executive said yesterday.
The announcement indicates that the Hsinchu-based chipmaker is gaining confidence about the rollout of its new 5G chip designed for premium smartphones. The chipmaker two months ago gave a more vague schedule, saying that new phones powered by its new Dimensity 5G chip would enter mass production early next year.
The remarks came after the company’s bigger rival Qualcomm Inc last week unveiled its new flagship 5G chip, the Snapdragon 888, for premium smartphones.
Photo: Vanessa Cho, Taipei Times
MediaTek said that its chip would be launched by the Lunar New Year, which falls in February, and that it expects replacement demand to take off next year as shipments of 5G handsets worldwide are set to double from more than 200 million units this year.
The growth momentum is set to carry into 2023, with the 5G penetration rate expected to climb to about 60 percent from 49 percent in 2022, MediaTek chief executive Rick Tsai (蔡力行) said in a speech entitled “Accelerating the Digital Economy post the COVID-19 pandemic” at the IEEE Global Communications Conference in Taipei yesterday.
The 5G smartphone penetration rate is expected to reach 18 percent this year, beating MediaTek’s expectations, Tsai said.
The company’s strategy is to build a comprehensive product portfolio for smartphones with different price points, he said, adding that the chipmaker plans to roll out a new 5G system-on-a-chip for entry-level smartphones.
The company’s high-end Dimensity 1000 chip has been adopted by LG Electronics Inc for its new 5G smartphone for US consumers, while Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀) launched its Reno 4Z smartphone using the Dimensity 800 in Europe this quarter.
Thanks to its higher bandwidth and low latency, 5G technology is being adopted in applications beyond smartphones, including routers, connected devices, automotive wireless communications and industrial Internet-of-Things applications, Tsai said.
Working from home, remote study and the stay-at-home economy has become the new norm due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, adding that the trend is set to stay even after the pandemic subsides.
MediaTek has introduced multiple chips to address those demands, he added.
The company in the third quarter posted a more than 40 percent growth in revenue across the board, including chips used in Chromebooks.
Pandemic-induced lockdowns and constraints on movement are boosting the digital economy, Tsai said.
Mobile network traffic is set to grow at an annual compound rate of 26 percent through 2022 from 2018, mostly driven by the streaming of videos, he said.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in