Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) is planning to introduce its next-generation Dimensity 9400 chipset in the fourth quarter of this year to support artificial-intelligence (AI) applications, company CEO Rick Tsai (蔡力行) said yesterday.
Speaking at a ceremony where MediaTek broke ground on an office building close to the Hsinchu High Speed Rail station, Tsai said the Dimensity 9300 chipset, which was unveiled in early November 2022, was a success, with many clients expressing satisfaction with the product.
MediaTek has faith that the upcoming Dimensity 9400 would outperform the Dimensity 9300 and lead to another sales pinnacle for the company, he said.
Photo: Vanessa Cho, Taipei Tim
The launch of the Dimensity 9400 would be part of a development trend for smartphones to be equipped with AI applications, he added.
Commenting on the construction of the new office building in Hsinchu, MediaTek chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) said the investment shows the company’s commitment to Taiwan’s IC design industry as well as its confidence in the nation’s technology development.
The construction of the office building, which has 12 floors above ground and five floors underground, is scheduled to be completed in 2027 and will accommodate 3,000 personnel as part of the company’s efforts to boost its talent pool, he said.
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry needs more investments in research and development and further cultivation of talent, he added.
Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who attended the groundbreaking ceremony, said the government would continue to fully support to the local IC design industry.
The government has launched the five-year Taiwan Chip-based Industrial Innovation Program (晶片驅動台灣產業創新方案), which aims to boost the output of Taiwan’s IC design industry from 20 percent to 40 percent of the global total within 10 years.
MediaTek’s new office building is a good indicator of the investment sentiment in Taiwan, and its location would be convenient for northbound and southbound transportation, Cheng said
Cheng added that he believed the new building would become an outstanding research and development hub, praising MediaTek, which is among the top 10 IC designers in the global market, as a leader in the local IC industry.
MediaTek ranked as the fifth-largest IC designer in the world in the third quarter of last year, with Taiwan-based Novatek Microelectronics Corp (聯詠), specializing in display driver IC design, and communications network IC designer Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱), another Taiwanese company, ranking seventh and eighth respectively, according to Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技).
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