VIDEO INTERVIEW: Innovation and execution are areas where Taiwanese chipset-maker MediaTek can compete strongly with market leader Qualcomm in the smartphone space. At least that’s the opinion of CFO David Ku, who went as far as claiming that MediaTek now has both a technology and cost edge over the US chip giant.
“Take octacore,” he said in a recent interview with Mobile World Live. “I think we’re the first in the industry to think about the octacore idea.”
MediaTek claimed last November it had launched the world’s first true octacore chipset – the MT6592.
Octacore chipsets hold out the promise of delivering a high-end experience with reduced time-to-market and lower development costs.
The MT6592 was followed by the “world’s first” 4G LTE octacore chipset (MT6595) in February, as well as MediaTek’s first 64-bit quadcore LTE SOC (system-on-a-chip).
Ku added that he saw 2014 as a year of transition for the firm – moving from 3G to 4G, and transitioning from 32-bit to 64-bit architectures.
“We’ve had 4G R&D for several years, but we’ve kept it a low profile until we are ready,” he said.
Ku was keen to dispel any impression that MediaTek silicon was suited only for low-end devices. Mediatek’s technology may start at the entry level, but Ku argued it doesn’t have to stay there. “We believe we have a fair chance of getting into the high end as well,” he said.
Raising brand awareness beyond China is another challenge identified by Ku, but he reckons MediaTek is well placed to achieve that. “We see ourselves as company which can provide really good value,” said Ku.
Despite being a B2B firm, Ku believed there ought to be a “consumer flavour” to the brand to raise the company’s profile. “This is what we are trying to do now,” he said.
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