MediaTek at the Forefront with Technology Designed for 5G Era

Spotlight on Future of Smartphones | TelecomDrive.com

When it comes to future of smartphones –chipsets are right at the heart of enabling future-proof innovation and delivering great capabilities in the hands of users.

With its continued focus towards meaningful innovation - MediaTek is at the forefront with technology designed for the 5G era, delivering high performance gaming experience, unrivalled image quality, uninterrupted connectivity and smooth responsive action in smartphones.

Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek speaks with Zia Askari from TelecomDrive.com about the company’s priorities for 2021 and what we can expect from MediaTek in 5G era.

As we move towards embracing 5G, this is going to be about array of IoT devices, drones and of course smartphones – what are your key priorities going to be in the year 2021?

In the coming year, the 5G market is expected to increase significantly. We are expecting around 500 million (chip) units to be shipped in 2021. At present, we are also working on technology up-gradation like 5G modem technology, WiFi-6, Edge AI capability, and 8K capability as a part of our commitment to deliver high quality, highly reliable, and trustworthy products and solutions to our customers. With such strong fundamentals, we have full confidence that we will continue delivering value to our customers in 2021 and beyond.

Talking about smartphone SoCs in 2021, we believe that most chips will feature 5G capabilities and AI enhancements for premium user experiences. Consumption of data is increasing at an incredible rate and there is a growing demand and requirement for faster and better connectivity devices and solutions. According to TRAI data, there were 743.19 million internet subscribers at the end of March 2020 with wireless being (97 per cent share of the overall pie).

We have come a long way from 2G services in 1995 to pervasive 4G in the present and are now looking forward 5G transformations in 2021.

Smartphone gaming is fast emerging as a key enabler for driving new age customer experiences. How is MediaTek enabling great user experience on gaming front?

Globally, gaming is gaining mileage and several smartphone makers are working towards launching devices that support high-end gaming. We are working on bringing seamless gaming experiences through dedicated chipsets that provide optimal results to the Indian gaming enthusiasts.

MediaTek has a strong focus on segments including 5G, smartphone gaming and smart homes. We are closely working with our partners and developers towards introducing newer and more feature-rich chipsets in the market. We have been quite aggressive with our launches in 2020, having already unveiled our gaming chipsets MediaTek Helio G70, G80, G85, G25 and G35, aiming at mainstream gaming smartphone segment. All the SoCs are powered by MediaTek HyperEngine Game technology. The MediaTek HelioG series is designed to deliver a fast and fluid mobile gaming experience.

The mobile gaming market is booming in India and smartphone makers are keen on delivering the best game-play experience to consumers and gaming fans. MediaTek is at the forefront with technology designed for the 5G era, delivering high performance, unrivalled image quality, uninterrupted connectivity and smooth responsive action even in the most demanding games.

How do you differentiate your offering on gaming when compared to what is already available in the market today?

MediaTek has been working on bringing seamless gameplay experiences with dedicated chipsets that support high-end gaming provides optimal results to gaming enthusiasts of the country.

Apart from the Helio G Series,  MediaTek has recently expanded its gaming-focus to Dimensity series chipsets with the addition of 1000+ and 800U chips. These chipsets are designed exclusively to propel incredible smartphone gaming experiences along with 5G capabilities.

The Dimensity Series combines the latest CPU and GPU cores with ultra-fast memory and massive AI performance to deliver fast and fluid action. And for even more gaming power, the Dimensity series is paired with MediaTek’s HyperEngine game technology that tunes the entire smartphone to an advanced gaming console with best user experience possible.

What are some of the innovative offerings from MediaTek that we can look forward to in the coming months?

MediaTek has been focused on the gaming segment and has collaborated with several mobile giant players. MediaTek is committed to enabling the smart devices ecosystem in India and is focusing on boosting 5G capabilities to make great technology available in the country for everyone.

The company has been shipping a lot of chips, which will be packed in the upcoming smartphones that will be shipped in the Indian market. The 5G enabled gaming handsets are what people will be witnessing in the coming year from MediaTek as we believe that India will be a major market for 5G phones and technology in 2021. We certainly will work very closely with our customers to fulfil their demands and expectations for the coming years.

We are still in the middle of this pandemic today. How has this affected MediaTek as an organization and how do you look at the future?

The industry has gone through many challenges due to Covid-19. The major issue faced by the global manufacturing sectors was the disruption in the supply chains due to worldwide lockdowns.

In fact, with social distancing, online education remote work system took a leap that leads to acceleration in demand for smart devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops etc.

MediaTek is continuously pushing boundaries and bringing high-end feature-rich smartphones even in the mid-ranged handset segment, ensuring that everyone has access to advanced technology experiences. MediaTek powered smartphones are preferred by consumers across the spectrum and in the near future we look forward to powering premium handset experience for our consumers by collaborating with device makers who are keen to walk an extra mile in technology development.

Please share your market vision and projection for year 2021? What are some of the key trends that you see shaping up in the coming year?

We are expecting 500 million (chip) units to be shipped in 2021. At present, we are working on technology upgrades like 5G modem technology; Edge AI capability, WiFi-6 and 8K capability. We believe that most chips will feature 5G capabilities and AI enhancements for premium user experiences in the coming year. As the consumption of data is increasing at an incredible rate, there is a major requirement for faster and better connectivity solutions.

We are working on bringing 5G connectivity to consumers sooner by targeting the sub6GHz frequency band that is ideal for the Indian landscape by 2021. We are also collaborating with leading cellular operators, equipment makers and suppliers to verify the market readiness of 5G technologies and make it accessible.

The interview was published in the December 2020 issue of Disruptive Telecoms.