MediaTek has said it is not concerned much about Qualcomm's announcement that it is lowering prices for its entry-level 4G solutions, believing that the price reductions will not hinder its plans to make a major push into China's 4G solution market, according to industry sources.

Qualcomm has not been strong in the entry-level solution segment, and therefore, its price reductions may not be able to lure many clients away from MediaTek, which has established cooperative ties with second-tier and small-scale 4G handset designers or vendors, said the sources.

As a result, the sources believe that Qualcomm's price reductions are not aiming at MediaTek directly, but rather to cope with rising demand for low-priced 4G phones from handset vendors and telecom operators.

China-based telecom operators combined aim to ship 160 million 4G smartphones in 2014, noted the sources.

Since a major take-off of 4G smartphone sales in China and other emerging markets is unlikely to come until 2015, chipset price competition will become keener then, commented the sources.