MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which designs chips for smartphone vendor Xiaomi Corp (小米), is expected to see its revenue grow by 17.6 percent annually this year, benefiting primarily from strong growth at Chinese smartphone vendors, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday.
MediaTek is one of few chip designers that would see its revenue grow by a double-digit percentage from a year earlier, TrendForce said.
The company’s revenue is to expand to US$8.9 billion this year, compared with U$7.59 billion last year, retaining its position as the world’s third-biggest chip designer, the Taipei-based market researcher said.
The Hsinchu-based company has a long list of Chinese clients, including Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀移動) and Vivo Electronics Corp (維沃移動通信).
MediaTek expects its market share in China to rise to between 40 and 50 percent this year, from 40 percent last year.
Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱), which is also a Hsinchu-based supplier of Wi-Fi and TV chips, is in the world’s top 10 chip designer list for the first time this year with revenue expected to rise 22.5 percent annually to US$1.25 billion, TrendForce said.
Qualcomm Inc this year retained its position as the world’s No. 1 mobile phone chipmaker, but its revenue is to shrink 4.5 percent annually from last year’s US$16 billion to US$15.28 billion, TrendForce said.
Intensifying competition from MediaTek and Chinese rivals, namely Hisilicon Technologies Co (海思半導體) and Spreadtrum Communications Inc (展訊), is the reason for the decline, TrendForce said.
Qualcomm’s revenue was also affected by the recall of Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7, TrendForce said.
HiSilicon Technologies, a chip arm of Huawei Technologies Co (華為), is expected to see its revenue increase 11.8 percent to US$3.98 billion, while Spreadtrum Communications is expected to see its revenue grow by 8.1 percent this year to US$1.91 billion, TrendForce said.
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