IC design house MediaTek has stopped lowering prices after the Lunar New Year holidays and recently introduced the MT6252 ultra low cost chipset solution. The company plans to leverage the MT6252 to make a come back from the MT6253's issues in SMT yield and flash compatibility, according to market observers, adding that the new solution will directly compete with Spreadtrum's SC6600.
Spreadtrum's China market share has reached 25% and some analysts are predicting a rise to 30%. Its first-quarter revenues are also projected to increase 5% sequentially. Although it looks as if Spreadtrum's short-term performance is more optimistic, MediaTek has begun to fight back by ending its price cutting strategy.
Next, MediaTek introduced the MT6252, which integrates baseband, RF, PMU, touch panel IC and audio power amplifier. The chipset solution supports serial flash and 4-card/4-stand-by functionality, clearly targeting Spreadtrum's SC6600.
MediaTek claimed that the MT6252 is currently the only handset solution to support multimedia functionalities via serial flash, and is also highly scalable, making it a cost-effective and convenient option for handset makers.
MediaTek gave up market share in the second half of 2010, and placed more emphasis on new product development. With Spreadtrum gaining ground in China, MediaTek has begun to retaliate. It introduced the MT6515 for the Gphone platform and smartphones, and upgraded the MT6268 for the 3G segment. MediaTek has indicated that revenues and gross margin in the third quarter will bottom out and begin to recover.