MediaTek's shipments of smartphone application processors exceeded 65 million units in the third quarter of 2013. For the year, the fabless firm is forecast to ship more than 200 million smartphone processors, according to market observers.

　　Shipment prospects for MediaTek's smartphone solutions are even brighter in 2014 given the company is expected to continue to release new dual-, quad- and 8-core processors, said the sources.

　　The increasing popularity of MediaTek's reference designs for smartphones has encouraged a large number of IC players, including those for LCD driver ICs, ambient light sensors, touchscreen controller ICs, gyroscopes and power management ICs, to speed up development of related IC parts that can be paired with MediaTek's reference designs, the sources noted.

　　Among LCD driver IC suppliers, Novatek Microelectronics has been shipping its IC parts for the reference designs, while fellow companies Himax Technologies, Orise Technology and ILi Technology are expected to follow suit soon.

　　Gyroscope players including Pixart Imaging, Faraday Technology and Sitronix Technology will begin shipping their parts in the first half of 2014, revealed the sources, adding that Sitronix will also start shipping its ambient light sensors during the period, in addition to current supplier Capella Microsystems, added the sources.

　　Meanwhile, Elan Microelectronics will join fellow company MStar Semiconductor for the supply of touchscreen controller ICs soon, the sources noted.