MediaTek is having a great time of late. Once considered as the overheating reason behind smartphones, MediaTek is now one of the top contenders for supplying 5G chipsets to smartphone brands. MediaTek is currently ruling the Chinese mid-range 5G smartphone market as it brought various mid-range SoCs to the market in recent times.
While the company is yet to set to launch a 5G smartphone in India, MediaTek is hoping to bring 5G-enabled mobile phones to the Asian sub-continent. Smartphone brands like Xiaomi, OnePlus, Realme and iQoo have already brought their Snapdragon 865 SoC-powered 5G devices to India. However, we are yet to see a mid-range 5G smartphone with chipsets like MediaTek Dimensity 1000L, Snapdragon 765G or even the recently launched MediaTek Dimensity 820 chipset.
We got a chance to discuss with Anku Jain, Managing Director at MediaTek India, regarding the company's plans and more importantly how the chipmaker is looking at bringing 5G to India.
1. Can you share the details of some chipsets that we can look forward to in 2020?
MediaTek is strongly focused on verticals like 5G, smartphone gaming and smart homes, we are consistently striving to design newer and more feature-rich chipsets, keeping humans in mind. In 2020, we have already launched our gaming chipsets MediaTek Helio G70, G80 and G85. The chips are powered by MediaTek’s HyperEngine Game technology and facilitate sustained performance and longer gameplay. Recently, we have also launched two new chips under our MediaTek Dimensity 5G SoC series – the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ and 820.
Launched last month, the Dimensity 820 delivers ultra-fast 5G speeds and is feature-packed with our latest multimedia, AI, and imaging innovations. Powered by MediaTek HyperEngine 2.0 gaming enhancements for seamless gameplay, and featuring MediaTek MiraVision for vivid visuals, the Dimensity 820 is a flagship chip from MediaTek. We are also upgrading our products under the well-received MediaTek Helio P series and recently launched the MediaTek Helio P95 chip. With our global and Indian teams working concurrently, several new chips, across segments, are in different stages of development at present and, we will be launching them soon.
2. What makes MediaTek products stand apart from other players in the market?
MediaTek is the fourth-largest, global, fabless semiconductor company and enables 1.5 billion connected devices every year. We are leading developers of innovative systems-on-chip (SoC) for a range of segments like mobile phones, home entertainment, connectivity, IoT products including Smart TVs, Voice Assistant Devices (VAD), Android tablets, set-top boxes as well as optical and Blu-ray DVD player. We have the maximum market share, globally, in the consumer electronics and gaming segments. Being the only fabless semiconductor company delivering solutions across verticals such as IT, consumer electronics and communications, makes us stand apart from other players in the market.
At MediaTek, we build technology keeping humans in mind to enhance and enrich life. MediaTek believes that technology should be great and great technology should be available and accessible to everyone. Technology democratisation is another reason that makes our products stand apart as we constantly strive to meet consumers’ demands.
3. MediaTek has always been a major player in the gaming smartphone space. What was the idea behind the G series?
Gaming is a booming industry, globally as well as in India. Considering the strong demand we have from our end consumers, we are consistently working towards creating newer and more evolved gaming chipsets. In our G series, the G stands for gaming and the series was created with the aim of making every millisecond matter through wide-ranging platform enhancements. Delivering incredible and intense gameplay experience to avid gamers ensuring there’s no barrier for gamers to dominate the field is our goal. Through wide-ranging platform enhancements, combined with the innovative MediaTek HyperEngine Gaming Technology, we have ensured that the entire mobile is tuned to deliver Intelligent prediction and faster sense response for rapid gameplay, along with brilliant picture quality and longer gaming sessions.
The family of chips under the G series feature an array of technologies that boost mobile gaming experience while also letting users enjoy premium camera facilities, connectivity, multimedia support and industry-leading AI performance.
4. What are some of the features of the recently launched MediaTek Helio G85 chipset that enables superior gameplay?
The MediaTek Helio G85 chip, launched earlier this month, packs a 1GHz GPU and MediaTek HyperEngine gaming enhancements to enable powerful and seamless mobile gaming. The chip delivers peak performance while optimising battery life for an incredible gaming experience. The dynamic resource management technology, in addition to the MediaTek HyperEngine game technology, ensures the chip is equipped for avid gamers. Elaborating on the MediaTek HyperEngine Game technology, when a user’s Wi-Fi signal is weak, the technology intelligently triggers Wi-Fi & LTE concurrency within just 13 milliseconds, leading to smooth and lag-free connection during gaming. It also enables the option to defer calls while in-game without a drop in connection and ensures intelligent and dynamic management of CPU, GPU and memory.
Specifications like superlative AI camera features for advanced imaging, integrated voice wake-up (VoW) to minimise power use, inertial navigation for more accurate location information, and dual 4G SIM capabilities for reliable connectivity, make the G85 a top pick for gaming smartphones.
5. Gaming has become a major activity during the lockdown. What are the opportunities you see in this space? Do you think India is poised for a gaming revolution?
The lockdown has ensured that people turn to their gadgets for entertainment and online gaming has been a major beneficiary. According to the latest FICCI-EY report on ‘Media and Entertainment’, the online gaming segment is seen growing at 43% CAGR to 18,700 crore INR by 2022, compared to 6, 500 crore INR in 2019.
We see enormous potential in the sector and have been consistently working towards creating seamless gameplay experiences. Our regular upgrades in the MediaTek Helio G series family show our commitment to the gaming smartphone segment. We believe India, with its technologically dexterous population, is poised for a gaming revolution and expect the sector to see strong competition from innovative device-makers and gaming companies.
Today’s avid gamer has a plethora of options to choose from, and our focus is on resolving issues that these users may face, such as slow processing power, low resolution, time lags, or connectivity issues. MediaTek’s power-packed G Series ensures quicker processing, high-quality graphics, and seamless experience for the new-age gamers. Our powerful routers and broadband connections also ensure that gamers have uninterrupted connectivity at home.
6. What are MediaTek’s plans in the 5G space? By when can we see the technology reaching India?
MediaTek has always been committed to facilitating 5G in the Indian ecosystem and we had begun R&D for 5G-enabled chips quite some time ago. It has been an eventful journey for us, as we evolved from designing 5G modems like the M70 to creating the world’s first integrated 5G SoC. As a vibrant and technologically astute market, MediaTek believes Indian industries will see major disruption from 5G connectivity. We are completely prepared for the revolutionary technology and have already launched several chipsets under MediaTek’s fast and smart 5G Dimensity SoC family.
MediaTek is also associating with cellular operators, device makers and suppliers to pave the way for 5G in India. MediaTek is ready with its diverse 5G technology offerings and our 5G-enabled SoC “Dimensity” is already being adapted by various partners. With the huge amount of data being used during the COVID-19 lockdown, a seamless and quick network connection is necessary to support work from home. With the government taking initiatives in this direction, we are hopeful that 5G will be deployed in India soon.
7. With the immense requirement for data during the lockdown, how important is network connectivity and what are MediaTek’s offerings in this space?
MediaTek’s broad portfolio ensures that we are capable of fulfilling the complete requirements of our customers when it comes to the “Work From Home Economy”. As this is set to translate into the new reality, wireless network connectivity is an important vertical for us. Our widespread portfolio ensures that consumers have seamless connectivity on the home network, with our powerful broadband services enabling seamless speed experience via routers capable of supporting Gigabit speeds. We expect India’s broadband penetration and requirements to change rapidly this year and support the new normal of ‘Work From Home’.
8. MediaTek recently launched its Dimensity 1000+ chipset. Can you share some details?
The recently launched Dimensity 1000+ chipset is an enhanced 5G-integrated chip with leading technology upgrades for gaming, video, and power-efficiency. The chip delivers a high-end, premium user experience and integrates a suite of top-class innovations in 5G connectivity including carrier aggregation, dual 5G SIM, superfast speeds and MediaTek’s 5G UltraSave power-saving technology.
Users can now access the ultimate visual experience through our cutting-edge display technology as Dimensity 1000+ supports the highest 144Hz refresh rate, operating 2.4 times faster, per second, than the ordinary 60Hz display. The chip also incorporates the latest MediaTek HyperEngine 2.0 gaming technology, optimising the smartphone for more fluid and immersive gameplay experience. The chip also features the new MiraVision Playback Enhancements, designed to improve per frame picture quality.
We expect the chip to become a benchmark for flagship-grade user experiences in the 5G era and look forward to multiple devices powered by Dimensity 1000+ to hit the Indian market soon. Recently, one of our OEM partners launched a device powered by the Dimensity 1000+ in China.
9. Do you see MediaTek playing a bigger role in 5G infrastructures like smart homes and smart cities going ahead?
At MediaTek, we are focused on enabling India’s endeavours toward leveraging 5G infrastructure, through verticals including smart homes, smart automotive, and smart cities. We plan to bring the transformative technology to consumers sooner and are harnessing our associations with network providers and OEMs for the same. We are also focusing on the sub6GHz frequency band, which is expected to be highly efficient in both urban and rural areas.
10. Who is your target audience and what are the major categories that you offer solutions for?
At MediaTek, we aim to cater to all segments of the population through our wide variety of chips across categories. We always take consumer feedback into account and put in stringent action to make our offerings better. MediaTek’s chips are not only about connecting people to their devices. We focus on connecting users’ devices to things that matter – enabling connectivity to the things that shape lives, make consumers smarter, healthier and improve everyday life. We continue to pioneer core technologies that enable our users to be better connected.
One target audience for us is the technologically savvy millennial population as they upgrade their devices regularly and invest in tech-heavy products. We offer solutions for major categories including smartphones, smart automotive and smart home gadgets like digital smart TVs, innovative 8K TVs, smart speakers, Blu-ray and DVDs, fitness systems, Wi-Fi routers, set-top boxes etc.
