As smartphone clients confront a supply glut as inflation and macroeconomic uncertainty reduce consumer electronics demand, Taiwan’s top chip designer MediaTek focuses more on processors for automobiles and AI computing.
“We are definitely moving our resources very, very rapidly towards the automotive and computing areas, because those areas will provide our growth in the next three to five years,” MediaTek Inc (2454. TW) CEO Rick Tsai said in an earnings call.
We’re not decreasing personnel in this tough climate. No growth either. “Allocating those precious resources is crucial,” he added.
Tsai said everyone, including MediaTek, was rushing to claim support for generative artificial intelligence like ChatGPT.
“We’re confident that we will be able to provide the capability to our customers,” Tsai added.
Tsai said MediaTek is investing extensively in AI since its new priority areas are all computing-related. For example, autonomous vehicles require AI chips.
After a slow start, the business anticipates smartphone demand to improve later this year.
Tsai claimed smartphone demand was less than projected. “As customers remain cautious about future demand, we expect our mobile revenue to be flattish in the second quarter and improve in the second half.”