1. More than 42.8 billion! MediaTek will continue to invest in 5G and AI in the next five years. The demand for talent is urgent.
Abstract: MediaTek is focusing on the 5G communications market! MediaTek said that it has a better positioning than 4G on 5G and will invest more than 42.8 billion RMB for 5G and AI projects in the next 5 years.
On June 15th (Reporter/Mao Mao), at the shareholders meeting held in Taipei today, Cai Mingci, chairman of MediaTek, stated that MediaTek had stated at the 2016 annual shareholders meeting that it would invest more than RMB 200 billion in the next five years. New Taiwan dollar (about 42.8 billion yuan), focusing on investment in 5G and AI projects, and it now appears that this investment will continue to increase.
MediaTek is fully targeting the 5G communications market
On June 13th, San Diego time, the 3GPP 5G NR standard SA (Standalone) solution was formally completed and released at the 80th TSG RAN plenary session of the 3GPP, marking the official release of the first truly comprehensive international 5G standard. This also means that the industry has entered a new stage of sprint.
According to Micronet, MediaTek is focusing on the 5G communications market. At present, MediaTek employs a total of 16,000 employees worldwide, and has more than 10,000 core R&D personnel. The research and development bases include Taiwan, the United States, Northern Europe, India, and China.
Cai Lixing, chief executive of MediaTec, stated at the shareholders’ meeting that the development of 5G technology is not completely out of reach, but needs to be accumulated for a long time. It can be said that MediaTek has been working hard in the past. Many important developments have actually been carried out a year ago. For example, MediaTek and Nokia, NTT Docomo, China Mobile and Huawei and other equipment vendors and operators, in fact, began cooperation from the early days of 3G, and now extends to 5G to continue cooperation.
At the same time, Cai Lixing believes that the development of 5G is not expected to mature until 2020. MediaTek has better positioning than 4G in 5G, and also has strong IP to develop AI. Now, MediaTek is in the field of 5G and AI. The demand for talent is very urgent.
At the just-concluded Computex in Taipei, Chen Guanzhou, general manager of MediaTek, stated that MediaTek has an absolute leading edge in 5G technology. This advantage is mainly reflected in both market and technology. From the perspective of market, MediaTek The 4G technology has covered all over the world, including Europe, the United States and China, and has the certification of local operators. Since each operator's requirements and technologies are different, one test is required, so MediaTek is very proud of its 4G technology. , whether it is coverage or performance have a strong competitive edge.
In terms of technology, MediaTek's 5G baseband chip M70 will be officially commercialized next year. According to Chen Guanzhou, the baseband chip adopts TSMC's 7nm process technology and will initially adopt a separate design. The future 5G baseband chip will also be integrated into MediaTek's SoC.
MediaTek India chip market accounted for 1/3
Although MediaTek is trying its best to target 5G technology, it has a different strategy for India. In response to an interview with Indian media, MediaTek’s Chief Financial Officer Gu Dawei stated that India still focuses on the development of 4G, and it is not yet able to develop 5G chips. time.
Gu Dawei stated that China, the United States, Europe, and Japan are expected to deploy 5G communication technology in 2018 or 2019, becoming the first countries and regions in the world to enter into 5G. India may be 2-3 years behind. Therefore, MediaTek will wait for India to deploy 5G technology before launching the 5G chips needed in this market.
As we all know, the smart phone market in mainland China is at a saturated stage. Overseas markets have become the second battlefield for domestic mobile phone manufacturers. Take India, a representative of emerging markets as an example. According to IDC data, India's smart phone market shipments in 2017 were 124 million units. , with an annual growth rate of 14%, is the fastest growing market in the world's top 20 smartphone market.
As the world's top three chip design companies, MediaTek is very optimistic about the development prospects of the Indian market.
According to Micronet, as early as 2013, MediaTek entered into the Indian market with Indian domestic mobile phone brand micromax. At that time, many micromax mobile phones were manufactured by domestic mobile phone manufacturers. After that, the two parties had been working closely together.
However, due to patent issues, MediaTek also suffered a lot of setbacks in the Indian market. At the end of 2014, Xiaomi was accused of patent infringement by Ericsson in India. For a time, Xiaomi’s entire line of mobile phones was not allowed to “enter” the Indian market. Subsequently, after Xiaomi’s Actively 'bleeding', in accordance with the conditions of 'pre-paid 100 rupees per court in the court' on each device, temporarily obtained the continued sales of Qualcomm chipsets, but the mobile phones equipped with MediaTek chips are still in the 'forbidden' status.
However, for MediaTek, this dilemma may be immediately resolved. If Ericsson and Xiaomi settle in the Indian market, it also means that millet phones equipped with MediaTek chips will be expected to return to the Indian market.
According to Chief Financial Officer of MediaTek Gu Dawei, the development prospect of MediaTek in the Indian market is still quite optimistic. In 2017, revenue from India accounted for about 10-15% of MediaTek's overall revenue, and showed a 'very good' growth rate.
At the same time, Gu Dawei revealed that currently, MediaTek’s market share in the Indian chip market is about one-third, and MediaTek’s goal is to become the leading chip market in India. Gu Dawei’s expectation is that MediaTek’s growth rate of Indian revenue in 2018 will surely be met. Achieve double digits. (Proofread/叨叨)
2. Cai Ming Jie: MediaTek’s 5G R&D progress is better than 4G in the current year;
Facing the advent of 5G and AI eras, Chairman Cai Ming-Jian pointed out that MediaTek's progress in 5G R&D is faster and better than that of 4G in the past. In the past, R&D expenses of 200 billion yuan were spent for 7 years. It seems that the needs of 5G and AI may not be enough. The annual R&D expenses will increase by more than RMB 30 billion and will increase year by year. It is expected that the 5G benefit will truly ferment 2021 in 2020.
Cai Ming Jie said that MediaTek mobile phone chips in 2017 due to product planning issues in the previous year, after the first phase of two years of adjustment, it is expected to see results by the end of next year, and this just catch the 5G launch, and 5G official business transfer It may not be until the second half of 2019. MediaTek is better prepared for 5G than it was for 4G in the current year. We use our original base to develop AI and now we also integrate AI into our chips. AI progresses faster than Moore's Law every half a month. Up to four times. He expects 5G to be truly effective until 2021 in 2020.
Cai Lixing pointed out that the status of smart phones in the fourth quarter of last year was not good. The Chinese market in the first quarter of this year was also not good. It did not begin to rejuvenate until March. We expect the second quarter of the year to return to springtime. In the second half of the year, China’s major OEM customers will also be full year. To maintain growth, such as: Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, VIVO, etc. In addition to China, the Indian market has also grown a lot. Global growth this year is limited, single-digit growth, and MediaTek customer growth rate will be higher than the global mobile phone growth rate, MediaTek The competitiveness of medium and high-end products has been greatly enhanced. At present, 4G Modem has reached Cat.16 speed level.
Tsai Ming-chieh pointed out that two years ago, the shareholders meeting mentioned several important projects, 5G and AI, and the trend has begun to shape. It will be established two years ago. The cost of R&D will be 200 billion yuan in 7 years. However, due to 5G, AI With the rise of such applications, at present, it seems that the amount of RMB 200 billion is not enough, and the amount may increase. In the future, R&D costs will be more than RMB 30 billion each year. Economic Daily
3. MediaTek Announcement: Cai Mingjie will serve as chairman;
Set micro-network news, MediaTek announced yesterday that the company's board of directors unanimously recommended Mr. Cai Mingjie to serve as chairman / Mr. Xie Qingjiang continues to serve as vice chairman.
The new term of office of the board of directors begins on June 15.
4. Mediatek Operations Recovery... End-of-year acceptance results;
Mediatek’s operations have entered a low ebb in the past two years. Chairman Cai Mingjie has continuously adjusted his operating policy. Tsai Ming-jee pointed out on (15) yesterday that he is currently in the first phase of recovery and is still dynamically adjusting. The scheduled target can be reached by the end of next year. The legal person estimates that initial results should be seen at the end of this year.
MediaTek misjudged the speed of 4G upgrades in the Chinese market in the past two years. The strategy of smart phone product blueprints was misunderstood and encountered a bottleneck in its operation. In 2017, Cai Mingjie invited the current CEO Cai Lixing to join the operations team and hopes to restructure. After Cai Mingjie last year, the shareholders meeting. Said that the recovery period (Recover) takes a period of one and a half to two years. Cai Ming Jie said that it is still a dynamic adjustment stage. It is currently known that there will be a fifth-generation mobile communications (5G) product in 2020, and the first two years The deadline, which is being carried out at a fixed rate, aims at firm market share and profitability. The first phase of the recovery plan is to see results by the end of next year, but he admits that from a long-term perspective, this is an endless war.
Cai Lixing said that last year the company had a very hard operation, and it went down regardless of the financial side or market share; it has started to pick up in the past year. He believes that Tsai Ming-kee has strict requirements for “recovery”. Let’s look at momentum and The directions are correct.
Cai Lixing believes that the challenges are very serious. We can't just look at the smartphone product line. Currently, the mobile phone business only accounts for about 40% of revenue, and the dependence on mobile phones is reduced. It is a balanced development for the group as a whole; whether it takes six months or one year, Progress is endless. He also hopes that there will be better performance next year. For the results of the management team, Tsai Ming-Jian gave 90 points last year. After one year, he scored 91 points for Cai Lixing, 1 point more than before. For more than one point, Tsai Ming-Jius resumed his true nature as an engineer: As semiconductor manufacturers know, the current is faster, and the increase is slower. Economic Daily
5. The original MediaTek is so popular in the Indian market;
Taiwan’s chip design and manufacturing giant MediaTek is currently focusing on the 5G communications market that is expected to appear soon. However, the company believes that India is not yet ready for the development of 5G chip products. According to the Economic Times report, In an interview with Indo-Asian News Service, MediaTek’s Chief Financial Officer Gu Dawei stated that on a global basis, the company has now placed its investment in the 5G market before 4G, but for India, it will still be based on 4G. At least 2018 will surely be the same. Gu Dawei pointed out that the mainland, the United States, Europe, and Japan are expected to be the first countries and regions to be the first to enter into 5G. The time is not 2018 or 2019. As for India, it may lag behind them. In 2~3 years, MediaTek may launch 5G chips in India at that time. MediaTek announced on June 5 that its 5G data chip solution called Helio M70 will be officially shipped in 2019, a technology partner. Including Nokia, NTT Docomo, and Huawei, etc. Although MediaTek temporarily disregards the layout of India's 5G market, Gu Dawei’s career prospects in India are still quite similar. Views. He said that revenue from India accounted for about 10 to 15% of Mediatek’s overall revenue in 2017, and showed a 'very good' growth rate. Gu Dawei stated that MediaTek’s current share of the Indian chip market is approximately One-third of the goal is to become the market leader. He also expects MediaTek's India revenue growth rate to reach double digits in 2018. As for the mainland market, Gu Dawei revealed that although the market share was once reduced to 30%, However, it quickly returned to the level of about 40-45% as before, and it hoped to continue. In terms of products, Gu Dawei stated that in addition to 5G chips, vehicle chips are the number one target for MediaTek in the future, and This is followed by application-specific chips (ASICs). In addition to rumors that related parties are seeking to list their shares outside the Taiwan market, Gu Dawei emphasized that the company currently does not have such an intention. DIGITIMES
6. Alibaba teamed up with MediaTek to seize smart home entrance, Bluetooth Mesh SoC only $1
Chen Lijuan, general manager of the Alibaba Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, announced on the 14th that the Bluetooth Mesh SoC chip module that Alibaba cooperates with MediaTek has been in mass production. This chip is extremely cost-effective and only costs US$ 1. This is related to the market price of RMB 14~15. The yuan level, which is almost half market price grabs, Alibaba and MediaTek chip wireless transmission programs to seize the smart home entrance, can be said to be ambitious. Chen Lijuan analyzed at the CES Asia 2018 keynote speech on the 14th, the future of the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial intelligence (AI), user interaction, and the integration of the three will be the key to development. It is reported that Tmall Genie shipments have broken 3 million units, and Amazon’s smart audio has reached this figure for 2 years, while the mainland market The energy is very strong. In the future, it is entirely possible for the IoT and AI sectors to achieve a curve overtaking. According to the survey report, in the fourth quarter of 2017, the Tmall Genie shipment ranks second only to Amazon and Google, ranking third in the world. Smart Audio. Since Ali founded the Smart Life Division in 2015 and officially announced its entry into the smart life, Ali's AI business has attracted much attention. Chen Lijuan announced on the 14th that it will cooperate with MediaTek. The Bluetooth Mesh SoC chip module has been in mass production, and the chip's cost-effectiveness is only $1. This chip is based on the Bluetooth 4.2 standard, allowing users to achieve regional network autonomy;
Chen Lijuan pointed out that the supporting policy for this promotion is the Bluetooth Mesh Module Reward Program: The developers of the first 10 million applications will be given free incentives to promote the development of the entire industry. At the CES in Las Vegas earlier this year, Ali The artificial intelligence lab has released the IoT Connect, an open connection protocol for the Smart Internet. The purpose is to make smart devices more convenient to connect, automate networking, automatically adapt and support Lynx's voice control. It also works with the chip design giant MediaTek. Launched the Bluetooth IoT chip with built-in IoT Connect protocol to realize the unification of smart home device connection agreements. The year 2018 was the year of smart audio outbreak. The rise of the market also brought new opportunities to the traditional chip industry. It is predicted that smart audio will be on the mainland market this year. With about 20 million units, MediaTek’s chip solution can account for about 14 million units, with a market share of about 70%. MediaTek’s family entertainment product group’s general manager, Ms. Tong Jie, also stated that it benefits from new consumer products such as smart audio. With the rise, MediaTek's annual revenue growth rate in the Home Entertainment Division exceeds 20%, as voice is being used as a new human-machine interaction model. Accepted, the smart voice chip will enter more devices, which will also bring more opportunities for MediaTek's Home Entertainment Division. Tourists believe that compared to directly increase the voice and other related models in a variety of home products Group, using smart audio as a control center to make various home products more cost-advantage, this will further consolidate the status of smart audio as an entrance center. According to the official data of the Tmall Wizard, the smart home devices that currently support the connection of Tmall Elf have reached 45 million units including Wi-Fi-connected devices, Bluetooth-enabled devices, Tmall's custom-made products, and smart devices with built-in Tmall's voice interactive capabilities, including lighting, small appliances, refrigerators, washing machines, TVs , Electric curtains, universal remote control, intelligent switching power supply and more than a dozen categories. At the same time, Alibaba will also promote the AI capabilities of AliGenie's Alibaba brain in the future, team up the Tmall Genie AI Alliance, and share AI technology with customers and partners. All hardware has AI capabilities AliGenie Inside, provides one-stop voice interactive services, Lynx Wizard upgraded to voice interactive loT era. The “Tmall Elf Seeking Friendmate” based on the bluetooth connection protocol is also officially launched. It is only necessary to tell “Find a teammate”. The Lynx Elves will automatically search for smart devices that can be connected around and automatically perform pairing connection to reduce smart home devices. Usage threshold. DIGITIMES