Mediatek has held its regular earnings call with its investors, and while going through how the company performed in the first half of 2021, it also announced some big news that it plans to do for the rest of the year. This included a MediaTek 4nm chipset by MediaTek being revealed by the end of this year.
MediaTek 4nm chipset
As Per the information shared by Bryan Ma, VP at the research agency IDC, MediaTek’s next flagship 5G SoC will be based on the TSMC 4nm process. The chipset is set to enter production this year. The first phones equipped with the chip will launch as early as Q1 of 2022.
Bryan further says that China will be the primary target for MediaTek. However, the Chinese OEMs will export these devices to other markets as well. The 4nm chipset from MediaTek is aiming for phones that will be priced around 4000RMB which converts to approximately Rs 45,000.
The current top-of-the-line chipset from MediaTek is the Dimensity 1200. It is fabricated on the 6nm EUV technology process by TSMC. The chip acts as a more affordable alternative to the Snapdragon 888 for OEMs. Brands like Poco, OnePlus, Realme, and more have released some value for money devices equipped with this SoC.
The information means MediaTek is on track to become the first chipmaker to launch a chipset built on 4nm technology. The current flagship processors from Qualcomm, Apple and Samsung are all based on 5nm technology. Pushing forward to a smaller die size could give MediaTek the advantage that it’s been seeking for a long time now. It’s also an aberration from earlier reports, which said that the company would start production of its 4nm chipsets by the end of 2021.
Performance in mobile chipsets, popularly called system-on-chips (SoCs), are usually based on advancements in the process technology. While the industry doesn’t quite follow Moore’s Law anymore, which states that the power and efficiency of a chip will be roughly doubled as the size becomes smaller, it still remains an important aspect of the industry’s progress. By launching 4nm chips before everyone else, MediaTek could finally convince smartphone makers to choose its devices ahead of Qualcomm, which has a stranglehold on the market.
