The Hsinchu, Taiwan-based company said its new Dimensity
9000 chip will be the world's first to use its manufacturing partner Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's "N4" chipmaking process, which helps
makes chips smaller and faster. MediaTek said it will also be the first
smartphone chip to feature a powerful new computing core from Arm called the
Cortex-X2.
Along with Qualcomm and Samsung Electronics, MediaTek is one
of only three firms in the world that makes 5G smartphone chips. The fourth
major player - Huawei, which also made its own phones - was forced out of the
market by US sanctions.
Huawei's exit set off a scramble by Android smartphone
makers to capture market share vacated by the Chinese brand. MediaTek already
counts many of the contenders for that market share, such as Xiaomi, Oppo, and
Vivo as customers, but many of those brands use MediaTek for their low and
mid-tier devices and rely on Qualcomm for higher-end models.
David Ku, MediaTek's chief financial officer, said the 9000
chip was the first in what will be a series of chips aimed at persuading those
customers to switch to using MediaTek in their flagship devices.
"We need to have a very strong army to march into the
segment," Ku told Reuters. "One product is not enough - this is our
starting point."
MediaTek hit $10 billion in revenue for the first time last
year, and Ku said it expects to hit $17 billion in revenue this year. He said
that while 4G smartphone chips sometimes sold for $10, 5G chips can sell for
$30 to even $50
"The No. 1 driving factor is really the much higher
(average selling price) due to the 4G to 5G transition," Ku said.
© Reuters
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