Intense competition among handset-IC suppliers has led to falling chip prices affecting negatively MediaTek's gross margin performance, according to company president Ching-Jiang Hsieh.

MediaTek's gross margin will fall further in the fourth quarter of 2015, but the company is striving to maintain the level at 40%, said Hsieh.

MediaTek saw its gross margin drop 3.2pp sequentially to 42.7% in the third quarter while the company posted on-quarter increases of 21.1% in revenues and 24.8% in profits. MediaTek's gross margin for third-quarter 2015 was also the lowest level in 10 quarters.

MediaTek expects to post flat growth or an up to 6% increase sequentially in revenues for the fourth quarter of 2015, but earnings per share will slip to between NT$2.54 (US$0.08) and NT$3.10, Hsieh indicated.

Based on the company's estimates for the fourth quarter, MediaTek's revenues for all of 2015 will likely decrease 1-2% with EPS reaching NT$16.31-16.87 far below the NT$30.04 reported for 2014.

In addition, MediaTek has appointed two senior executives, Jeffrey Ju and Joe Chen, as its co-chief operating officers effective November 1, 2015.

In his new position, Ju is responsible for MediaTek's handset-chip division and global sales operations, while Chen is the head of MediaTek's home entertainment business and in charge of the company's internal operations.