MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s largest IC designer, became the world’s eighth-largest semiconductor supplier last year, a report from US-based market advisory firm IC Insights said.
MediaTek reported a more than 60 percent year-on-year increase in sales after posting US$17.7 billion in revenue last year, the report said.
IC Insights’ rankings excluded pure-play foundry operators such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電).
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
MediaTek and US-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), which generated US$16.4 billion in sales and took the 10th spot, replaced Apple Inc and Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG among the top 10 semiconductor suppliers worldwide.
MediaTek and AMD held 2.9 percent and 2.7 percent market share respectively in the global semiconductor market, the report said.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co held the top spot after generating US$82.0 billion of sales, ahead of US-based Intel Corp (US$76.7 billion), South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc (US$37.4 billion), Micron Technology Inc (US$30.0 billion), Qualcomm Inc (US$29.3 billion), Nvidia Corp (US$23.2 billion) and Broadcom Inc (US$21.0 billion).
Among the top 10 semiconductor suppliers, five were fabless IC companies — Qualcomm, Nvidia, Broadcom, MediaTek and AMD, the report said.
In MediaTek’s annual report, chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) said that the company had worked with its pure wafer foundry partner to develop advanced processes, including 3D chipsets to support high-performance computing devices.
While Tsai did not name its partner, it is widely thought to be TSMC, as MediaTek is one of TSMC’s largest customers.
MediaTek last year posted revenue of NT$493.4 billion (US$16.74 billion) and earnings per share of NT$70.56.
Company data showed that MediaTek was the largest smartphone IC supplier in the world last year.
Tsai said he had faith that the firm’s strong cash flow and improving profitability would allow its shareholders to continue sharing the earnings of MediaTek.
MediaTek has proposed issuing a NT$73 cash dividend — NT$57 per share from its earnings and NT$16 per share from its surplus capital.
The NT$57 from its earnings represents about an 81 percent payout ratio and Tsai said that the company would continue to pay generous dividends to its shareholders.
Shareholders are to vote on the dividend proposal at MediaTek’s annual general meeting on May 31.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure