Look out, Qualcomm: MediaTek will soon power more devices in the U.S.

By Julian Chokkattu Published September 17, 2016

LG X Power — Ted Kristonsis/Digital Trends

LG has a new budget device in town, but the spotlight falls on the processor that’s in it. It’s the first “MediaTek-enabled smartphone for Sprint.”

The X Power was announced back in July and has only been available in South Korea until now. The 5.3-inch device is packed with the MediaTek Helio P10 chipset, has a resolution of 1,280 by 720 pixels, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 5-megapixel front shooter.

Recommended Videos

You’ll also find 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, but the real kicker is the X Power’s battery. It’s got a whopping 4,100mAh battery capacity, meaning this device will certainly be long-lasting.

MediaTek has been configuring its processor to be compatible with a variety of networks in the U.S., from GSM to CDMA, to HSPA+. The Taiwanese company says its Helio P10 chipset signals that the company is ready to power devices in the U.S. on any network. Qualcomm is the dominant force in the United States, but MediaTek wants a share of the pie.

“MediaTek has arrived,” Mohit Bhushan, MediaTek vice president and general manager of U.S. Business Development, tells Digital Trends. “We are a very viable second source to enable the operator portfolio.”

The chipset manufacturer has offered MediaTek processors to devices on AT&T and T-Mobile’s network in the past, but Sprint is the latest expansion in the U.S. The company’s processors have to undergo a “chipset validation” process with every major carrier, and certification on the Helio P10 with Verizon and AT&T is expected to come by the end of October. MediaTek is still in talks with the carriers, but it’s likely we’ll see more MediaTek-powered devices in the U.S. on Big Red, Ma Bell, and all the other major networks.

“The key thing here is the combination of our next-generation LTE technology, which includes a carrier aggregation feature,” Finbarr Moynihan, general manager of international corporate sales for MediaTek, tells Digital Trends. “It really opens up this current modem generation to be applicable to all four carriers in the U.S.”

The LG X Power runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow, costs $150, and is available on Boost Mobile now. It will come to Sprint next week.

Topics

Julian Chokkattu

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…

Mobile

Are MediaTek and Qualcomm feeling pressure from in-house chips?

A render of the MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor.

For well over a decade, Qualcomm and MediaTek have been the default choices for the best smartphone makers. Almost every smartphone or tablet you see is powered by either a Qualcomm Snapdragon or MediaTek chipset. But the tremendous growth in the performance of mobile devices over the last few years implies that even the slightest of differences in performance can significantly impact a buyer's decision. Companies such as Apple have played this to their advantage by hailing the performance of its custom chips over counterparts from Qualcomm and MediaTek.

With swarms of phone manufacturers exploring ways to design their own custom smartphone chipsets in a bid to offer a customized experience to the users. the phenomenon appears to be on the rise. Will Qualcomm and MediaTek succumb to this pressure from companies designing their chips in-house?
Samsung and Huawei have been making chips for a while

Mobile

Samsung Exynos loses big even as MediaTek widens its lead over Qualcomm

When MediaTek overtook Qualcomm to become the biggest smartphone chipset vendor in 2020, it did so by grabbing 31% of the smartphone SoC market. A year later, the Taiwanese company has not only managed to hold on to that position but has also significantly widened its lead over Qualcomm.

According to a recent Counterpoint Research report, MediaTek’s share in the smartphone chipset market -- as of Q3 2021 -- stands at 40%, showing an increase of seven percentage points compared to the same period in 2020. This increase was bolstered partly by a surge in demand for 4G LTE phones in emerging markets (like India), where 5G networks are still several years away. In comparison, Qualcomm, which had 28% of the global SoC market in 2020, found its market share drop to 27%.

Mobile

4 big names commit to MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000 chip for flagship phones

The MediaTek headquarters in Taiwan.

The Dimensity 9000 is MediaTek’s first true flagship smartphone processor, and one that is expected to power a wide variety of high-end devices over the next year. MediaTek said at its launch that the first devices with the chip inside would arrive during the first three months of 2022, and it has now released details on which manufacturers are signed on to use the Dimensity 9000.

Currently, there are four names on the list, and due to MediaTek’s admission that the Dimensity 9000 would initially be most relevant to the Chinese market, several of the manufacturers don’t have a big international presence at the moment. However, one stands out as being different, and that’s Oppo. The company says “the next Find X flagship will be the first to be launched with the Dimensity 9000 flagship platform.”