MediaTek turns to India in search of a new market to conquer. (Photo : Reuters)
MediaTek, the leading designer of integrated circuits (IC) in Taiwan, is planning to include India in order to expand its market, as part of its initiatives to rise above growing competition against Beijing-backed companies in China, as stated on qq.tech.com.
In 2014, MediaTek was still among the top players in the industry, with net revenues jumping 68.8 percent to NT$46.4 billion ($1.44 billion) on sales of NT$213 billion (US$6.6 billion), up 56.6 percent. The IC designer also covered 31.67 percent market share on the Android gadget market. It almost equaled Qualcomm's market share of 32.3 percent.
But now, MediaTek's sales are being dampened by increasing rivalry from Chinese IC manufacturers, such as Hisilicon, Leadcore and Spreadtrum.
The smallest among the three firms, Leadcore, has recently acquired a strong boost after entering into an agreement with Xiaomi, China's leading local smartphone brand. This move threatens MediaTek as Xiaomi is one of its biggest clients.
MediaTek's sales plummeted 13.1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2015 and is estimated to decline 2 percent for the whole year, making the firm fall short of its original forecast expecting 12 percent growth.
MediaTek chain Tsai Ming-kai recently said that the main arena for smartphone chips has now moved from China to India and other developing markets.
Micromax, the largest native smartphone brand in India, has been MediaTek's first step into penetrating the Indian market, as it supplied the chips used by the Indian brand in 2013. According to market research firm Canalys, Micromax was able to overtake Samsung's market share in India during the last quarter of 2014 thanks to the help of MediaTek chips.
The industry now watches to see if MediaTek would succeed in replicating its Chinese experience in India by providing innovative solutions to Micromax. This same strategy has opened up the development of various local brands in China.
MediaTek enjoyed a strong position in India, as the Indian government has included mobile phones as a major factor in the country's efforts to make India a manufacturing powerhouse.
MediaTek continues to widen its influence in the Indian market, as it supplies chips to the major Indian brands Micromax and Karbonn, according to Berstein Research.
MediaTek recently declared that Android One, a Google smartphone using MediaTek chips, will lay out its path into the Indian market by reducing its price to $30-$50, down from $100 last year.
