Mediatek density processors have made a niche for themselves in the 5G segment. However, the company has yet to prove itself in markets such as Europe and the United States, where Qualcomm dominates the mobile market outside of Apple's Bionic SoC. The latest reports on the Dimensity 600 series of inexpensive 5G mobile processors could be a ray of hope for budget consumers and likely trouble for Qualcomm.
A precise name to compete with Qualcomm
As the saying goes, "to compete with an enemy, try to target his fame by name", if the rumors are true, Mediatek has correctly named budget processors for the 600 nicknames. Qualcomm's latest venture into the budget 5G segment with the Snapdragon 690 5G SoC offers 60% better graphics and 20% better performance compared to its predecessor. If the rumors are true, Mediatek has correctly named the budget processors using the initial 600 similar to Qualcomm. Qualcomm's latest venture into the budget 5G segment with the Snapdragon 690 5G SoC offers 60% better graphics and 20% better performance compared to its predecessor. Also regarding these specifications, it is expected to compete with Qualcomm. Reports from China assume that filling the 600 series follows the 7nm process of its pricier SoC 800 and 1,000 siblings. This is the first goal against Qualcomm that used Samsung's 8nm in the Snapdragon 690 SoC. By the way, the cores, however, would be two ARM Cortex-A 76s and six A-55s. While this is slightly less efficient compared to Qualcomm's A77 and A55 combos, the company could probably do this to keep costs down. Of course, the main intention of the CPU will be to integrate 5G at an affordable price. However, details about sub-6 GHz connectivity, support for 5G basebands, remain a mystery.
Gain ground thanks to Huawei's ban
For supply, the factory-free semiconductor relied heavily on its Taiwanese counterpart, TSMC. Reports earlier this week already indicated that Mediatek had sued TSMC for tripling its 5G shipments after the Huawei ban. The US government had banned Huawei from acquiring its semiconductor technology for security reasons and had given a grace period of until September for manufacturers to clear already pending orders. This led TSMC to halt 5nm production originally reserved for Huawei. However, Mediatek, which has been trying to grab it to acquire it, has already increased TSMC's orders to more than 20,000 slices per month. This order from TSMC includes both 7nm and 12nm processes and is consistent with the rumor that the Dimensity 600 series is based on the 7nm process. However, this is a win-win situation for TSMC and its partners like Mediatek, as the demand for 5G is rising at a rapid stage and with the hiccups about HiSilcon production, Mediatek, whose top of the range is still in the pipeline for 7nm, will surely accelerate plans on 5nm to improve roads in the future.
When it comes
While the company hasn't said a word about the existence of the 600 series of budget processors, rumors are already calling for a release this quarter, late September to be precise. Mediatek is said to hold a Q5 revenue briefing later this month. Following this, the international seminar on ultra-wide circuits that focuses on 10G and AI technology should start on August 600, where big names like Intel, IBM, Mediatek should announce new products and Dimensity XNUMX series might be the best choice. Reports already indicate that Mediatek has received large orders for the new processors from original equipment manufacturers, who plan to introduce the powered devices later this year, even before launch. This could be due to the aggressive price at which processors should debut. That being said, things are starting to look good for the company and a worthy rival to Qualcomm is always welcome for some healthy competition.