MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is testing its 5G chips that support millimeter-wave technology at the company’s research-and-development (R&D) center in Hsinchu in collaboration with Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) to accelerate the rollout of the world’s first chips using the technology.
MediaTek’s announcement came after the world’s largest 5G handset chip supplier built a strong presence in 5G chips using other technologies, driven by chips that support the 6 gigahertz band or lower.
The partnership with Chunghwa Telecom offers favorable conditions for MediaTek to introduce the new 5G chips to the US, Europe and Japan, the companies said in a joint statement.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
MediaTek has cooperated with more than 100 telecoms worldwide to certify its 5G chips, it said.
To create the environment needed for testing, Chunghwa Telecom has deployed 5G non-stand-alone mobile networks in MediaTek’s 5G R&D center, utilizing the telecom’s mid-band 3.5 gigahertz and high-band 28 gigahertz bands, the statement said.
MediaTek told investors in January that its millimeter-wave system-on-a-chip has been certified by a major global operator, with mass production scheduled to begin in the second half of this year for the global market.
MediaTek said it expects the worldwide 5G penetration rate to surpass 50 percent this year, compared with slightly more than 35 percent last year.
That means about 700 million 5G smartphones would be shipped this year, up 40 percent from 500 million units last year, the company said.
Separately, MediaTek said it has won priority status to acquire the superficies rights for a 1,736m2 plot in Hsinchu for NT$3.77 billion (US$130.78 million), the company said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing yesterday.
The land is owned by the Railway Bureau, it said.
MediaTek was given the right to develop the land near Hsinchu’s high-speed rail station for 70 years, the bureau said in a statement.
The chipmaker plans to spend NT$9 billion on the development project and create 3,000 new jobs, the bureau said.
In a separate statement, MediaTek said it is planning to build an office building at the same site, as that would boost talent acquisition of R&D engineers to support the company’s bullish prospects.
MediaTek plans to hire 2,000 new employees this year, the company said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
MARKET LEADERSHIP: Investors are flocking to Nvidia, drawn by the company’s long-term fundamntals, dominant position in the AI sector, and pricing and margin power Two years after Nvidia Corp made history by becoming the first chipmaker to achieve a US$1 trillion market capitalization, an even more remarkable milestone is within its grasp: becoming the first company to reach US$4 trillion. After the emergence of China’s DeepSeek (深度求索) sent the stock plunging earlier this year and stoked concerns that outlays on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure were set to slow, Nvidia shares have rallied back to a record. The company’s biggest customers remain full steam ahead on spending, much of which is flowing to its computing systems. Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc are
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
The US overtaking China as Taiwan’s top export destination could boost industrial development and wage growth, given the US is a high-income economy, an economist said yesterday. However, Taiwan still needs to diversify its export markets due to the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s administration, said Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮), an economics professor at National Central University. Taiwan’s exports soared to a record US$51.74 billion last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and continued orders, with information and communication technology (ICT) and audio/video products leading all sectors. The US reclaimed its position as Taiwan’s top export market, accounting for
RSS