MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon.
The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday.
The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said.
Photo: CNA
MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used in data centers to US$50 billion by 2028, up from an earlier estimate of US$40 billion, based on heavy AI infrastructure investments pledged by the world’s major hyperscalers.
“We are vying for a 10 percent to 15 percent share of this market going forward in the next two years or more,” Tsai said.
The chipmaker’s comments came amid lingering concern about MediaTek’s progress in tapping growing demand for application-specific ICs (ASIC) from hyperscalers, which aim to reduce dependence on pricey AI chips from Nvidia Corp by designing their own chips for more tailor-made features. That is a new business MediaTek is hoping to develop by leveraging its strong intellectual-property capacities.
For the short-term business outlook, MediaTek expected to report an “anti-seasonal growth” in the fourth quarter, driven by strong demand for its flagship smartphone chips and auto chips
Revenue this quarter would be flat or rise 6 percent sequentially to NT$142.1 billion to NT$150.1 billion (US$4.6 billion to US$4.9 billion), from NT$142.1 billion last quarter, MediaTek projected.
Mobile phone chips were the largest revenue source last quarter, accounting for 53 percent.
That would help bring the company’s total revenue this year to more than US$19 billion, an all-time high, Tsai said. MediaTek expects the growth momentum to carry into next year.
As leading-edge process technology capacity becomes scarce and costly, MediaTek said it would strategically adjust its pricing and allocate its capacity among different product lines to reflect increasing manufacturing costs.
The company might be referring to potential wafer price hikes from its major foundry partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), an analyst said during the conference yesterday. MediaTek said it is seeking to pass the increases in supply chain costs to customers.
MediaTek plans to offer new flagship smartphone chips based on TSMC’s 2-nanometer process technology next year, it said.
Gross margin this quarter is expected to trend down to about 46 percent from 46.5 percent last quarter, the company forecast. That would mark a fifth quarter of decline since the fourth quarter of last year.
MediaTek attributed an unfavorable product mix to the potential gross margin contraction this quarter, since smartphone chips, including flagship smartphone chips, deliver lower margins than corporate averages.
The chipmaker yesterday reported a 9.3 percent sequential decline in net profit for last quarter to NT$25.45 billion, compared with NT$28.06 billion in the second quarter.
On an annual basis, net profit edged 0.5 percent lower from NT$25.59 billion.
Earnings per share dropped to NT$15.84 last quarter from NT$17.5 in the prior quarter and NT$15.94 in the same period last year.
Gross margin dipped to 46.5 percent from 49.1 percent in the second quarter and 48.8 percent in the third quarter last year.
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said the DRAM supply crunch could extend through 2028, as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has led the world’s major memory makers to dramatically reduce production of standard DRAM and allocate a significant portion of their capacity for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The most severe supply constraints would stretch to the first half of next year due to “very limited” increases in new DRAM capacity worldwide, Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told a news briefing. The company plans to increase monthly 12-inch wafer capacity to 20,000 in the first half of 2028 after a
Property transactions in the nation’s six special municipalities plunged last month, as a lengthy Lunar New Year holiday combined with ongoing credit tightening dampened housing market activity, data compiled by local land administration offices released on Monday showed. The six cities recorded a total of 10,480 property transfers last month, down 42.5 percent from January and marking the second-lowest monthly level on record, the data showed. “The sharp drop largely reflected seasonal factors and tighter credit conditions,” Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) deputy research manager Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍) said. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday fell in February this year, reducing
Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports is forcing Chinese miners to rethink their strategy, speeding up plans to process the metal locally instead of shipping it to China’s vast rechargeable battery industry. The country is Africa’s largest lithium producer and has one of the world’s largest reserves, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Zimbabwe already banned the export of lithium ore in 2022 and last year announced it would halt exports of lithium concentrates from January next year. However, on Wednesday it imposed the ban with immediate effect, leaving unclear what the lithium mining sector would do in the
RSS