Qualcomm is expected to ramp up shipments of its Snapdragon 660 and Snapdragon 630 CPUs for the mid-tier smartphone segment, putting more pressure on Taiwan-based smartphone AP provider MediaTek, according to industry sources.

Qualcomm has established business ties with a number of China-based first-tier smartphone vendors, including Xiaomi Technology, Oppo and Vivo, which have decided to adopt Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 chips for their high-end models, said the sources.

The adoption of Qualcomm's high-end chips will pave the way for these vendors to also use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 660 and 630 chips for their mid-range smartphones, the sources noted.

Qualcomm has been shipping the Snapdragon 660 chips since the beginning of 2017 and plans to start delivering the Snapdragon 630 CPUs at the end of May, indicated the sources.

MediaTek has announced consolidated revenues of NT$17.75 billion (US$588.3 million) for April 2017, down 14.8% sequentially and 22.9% on year.

MediaTek also warned that its sales performance during the second quarter of 2017 will be adversely affected by a slow recovery in orders for smartphone solutions.