IC design house MediaTek will likely attract new orders for entry-level and mid-range handsets from Nokia and Samsung Electronics in 2011, in addition to its existing ones from Motorola and LG Electronics (LGE), according to market sources.
New contracts, as well as continued-strong demand from China's white-box handset market, may assist MediaTek to fulfill its handset-chip shipment goal of 550 million units for 2011, the sources said.
Having grown its market share in China's white-box handset market with 2.5G solutions, MediaTek finds it hard to gain a further larger presence in the white-box handset market. As a newcomer to the 3G and smartphone chip segment, MediaTek is facing strong competition from international chipset companies. Meanwhile, price cuts initiated by local China-based rivals have squeezed its 2.5G market share.
MediaTek now stands a chance of breaking into the supply chains of more brand-name handset companies in 2011, the sources pointed out. MediaTek is likely to grab orders mainly for entry-level and mid-range devices from four out of the global top-five handset vendors, the sources indicated. The orders could boost MediaTek's handset-IC shipments to 600 million units in 2011, the sources said.
In addition, the sources pointed out that MediaTek is preparing the launch of its next-generation 2.5G single-chip solution, which will be built using 40nm process technology with more features integrated in the compact all-in-one package.