Chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) has formed a strategic partnership with Intel Corp to manufacture chips using the US company’s matured process technology as the Taiwanese firm aims to build more resilient and balanced foundry sources, the companies said yesterday.
The agreement will help MediaTek add a new foundry partner with significant capacity in the US and Europe, according to the joint statement said.
“Building on the existing 5G data card venture with Intel, MediaTek is extending the partnership into Intel Foundry Service (IFS) to mature Intel 16 node to support our fast-growing smart edge devices,” MediaTek said in a joint statement.
Photo: David Chang, EPA-EFE
MediaTek said it is to adopt Intel's Intel 16 process node, which is comparable to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's (TSMC, 台積電) 22-nanomter process node, to produce chips used in TVs, routers and other smart-home devices.
“In addition to maintaining a close partnership with TSMC in advanced process nodes, this collaboration [with Intel] will enhance MediaTek’s supply for mature process nodes,” the company said. “We believe this collaboration will help our further market expansion in global smart edge devices”
MediaTek is one of the early adopters of TSMC’s most advanced process technologies such as 4-nanometer and 7-nanometer technologies to build their smartphone chips.
MediaTek is “our long-term customer and we have a strong partnership in advanced technology collaboration. There is no impact on TSMC’s business with MediaTek,” TSMC said of MediaTek’s deal with Intel.
MediaTek has long adopted a multi-sourcing strategy, N.S. Tsai (蔡能賢), corporate senior vice president of the firm’s platform technology and manufacturing operations, said in the statement.
The company already partners with Intel on the 5G data card business, and aims to deepen their collaboration to smart edge devices through IFS, Tsai said.
Intel established IFS last year to help meet rising demand for advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity. The company recently announced factory expansions at existing sites, as well as plans for major investments in new sites in Ohio and Germany.
“We have the right combination of advanced process technology and geographically diverse capacity to help MediaTek deliver the next billion connected devices across a range of applications,” IFS president Randhir Thakur said in the joint statement.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
TECH SECURITY: The deal assures that ‘some of the most sought-after technology on the planet’ returns to the US, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said The administration of US President Joe Biden finalized its CHIPS Act incentive awards for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), marking a major milestone for a program meant to bring semiconductor production back to US soil. TSMC would get US$6.6 billion in grants as part of the contract, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement yesterday. Though the amount was disclosed earlier this year as part of a preliminary agreement, the deal is now legally binding — making it the first major CHIPS Act award to reach this stage. The chipmaker, which is also taking up to US$5 billion
RSS