Recently, it was reported that Huawei filed a patent infringement lawsuit against MediaTek in a Chinese local court. According to a report from TechNews, in response, MediaTek and its subsidiaries, HFI Innovation and MTK Wireless, have initiated countermeasures by filing a lawsuit against Huawei in a UK court, accusing Huawei of patent infringement.

MediaTek has stated that the case against Huawei is now in the judicial process and has declined to comment further. On the other hand, Huawei has not publicly responded to the matter.

A report from Chinese media outlet YiCai further cited sources, revealing that the dispute between MediaTek and Huawei over patent fees has been continuing for two to three years, yet the two parties are still unable to reach an agreement due to pricing issues.

On July 18, a report from Nikkei indicated that Huawei had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against MediaTek in a Chinese local court, drawing industry attention. On July 19, MediaTek issued an announcement stating that the lawsuit has no significant impact on the company, that it has entered the judicial process, and that the company will not comment further.

Industry sources cited by TechNews further suggest that Huawei’s lawsuit against MediaTek for patent infringement likely involves 5G (and possibly 4G, 3G, etc.) cellular network mobile communication technology. Reportedly, the reason for the lawsuit is that Huawei proposed a corresponding fee to MediaTek based on terminal patent licensing prices, but MediaTek considered the price too high, leading to the impasse.

Notably, both Huawei and MediaTek hold a large number of related patents. As of the end of 2022, Huawei possessed over 120,000 validly authorized patents worldwide. According to another report from YiCai, it owns 20% of the world’s 5G and Wi-Fi 6 patents, 10% of 4G patents, and 15% of NB-IoT and LTE-M patents.

As for MediaTek, it held over 13,000 patents globally by the end of 2022, with 1,200 patents granted in that year alone. These figures only include granted patents, excluding pending applications. Additionally, MediaTek ranks first among Taiwanese companies in the number of global patents for 5G, Wi-Fi, and HEVC/VVC technologies.

Industry sources cited by the Commercial Times also note that in recent years, China’s technological capabilities have significantly improved, and companies have been actively applying for patents domestically and internationally. With the support of the Chinese government, they have also started to frequently engage in patent litigation. Last year, Chinese courts received 5,062 technical intellectual property and monopoly cases.

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(Photo credit: MediaTek)

As Samsung actively expands its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) capabilities, it is also striving to enhance the penetration rate of its existing memory products in mobile devices such as smartphones. On July 16, Samsung announced that it has completed verification of its latest LPDDR5X DRAM, which can be paired with MediaTek’s next-generation smartphone chips.

Since MediaTek has yet to release its next-generation 5G flagship chip, the Dimensity 9400, Samsung’s announcement has drawn greater attention to the upcoming release date of the Dimensity 9400.

Samsung’s LPDDR5X DRAM boasts a 25% performance improvement over the previous generation, with increased execution speed, and will be compatible with the Dimensity 9400 chip set to be released in the fourth quarter. Industry sources cited by Economic Daily News further note that this means smartphone brands that choose the Dimensity 9400 as their main chip can also opt for Samsung’s LPDDR5X DRAM as the mobile memory solution for their new devices.

Samsung’s latest LPDDR5X DRAM claims to extend the battery life of mobile devices and enhance the speed of AI functions within the device, such as voice-to-text generation, without the need for server or cloud access.

According per another report by the Korea Economic Daily, JC Hsu, General Manager of MediaTek’s Wireless Communication Business Unit, stated that Samsung’s LPDDR5X DRAM, with an execution speed of up to 10.7 Gbps, will leverage more AI capabilities and performance of MediaTek’s upcoming products.

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(Photo credit: Samsung)

MediaTek and Qualcomm’s new wave of 5G flagship smartphone chip competition will begin in the fourth quarter. MediaTek is launching the “Dimensity 9400” to directly compete with Qualcomm’s “Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.” According to a report from Economic Daily News, both major manufacturers are using TSMC’s 3nm process to produce their new chips, which have recently entered the production phase.

Alongside this, NVIDIA, AMD, and Apple are also actively seeking TSMC’s 3nm capacity, resulting in TSMC securing another order and seeing a surge in its advanced process business.

It is understood that the queue for TSMC’s 3nm process capacity has extended all the way to 2026. To ensure the smooth launch of the Dimensity 9400, MediaTek has already started production at TSMC to secure sufficient supply capacity. The 3nm process is currently the most advanced node technology. Previously, TSMC mentioned that its 3nm process capacity will triple this year, but it still remains in short supply.

At the beginning of this year, MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai announced that the Dimensity 9400 would be unveiled in the fourth quarter. He stated that its performance would far exceed that of the current flagship chip, the Dimensity 9300, and that it would represent another significant peak in their technology.

MediaTek’s current flagship Dimensity 9300/9300+ chips are built using TSMC’s 4nm process. Reportedly, it is expected that with the support of TSMC’s 3nm process, the performance of the Dimensity 9400 will be further enhanced, making it a powerful tool for MediaTek to capture the market.

Although Qualcomm has not yet announced the launch schedule and details of its next-generation flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, the same report believed that this chip will also be produced using TSMC’s 3nm process and will be launched in the fourth quarter, with upgraded performance.

Ming-Chi Kuo, renowned Apple analyst, previously reported that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be produced using TSMC’s N3E process, and its price may be 25% to 30% higher than the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, with each chip priced at $220 to $240.

In the second half of the year, numerous AI products will be launched in the consumer market. Per industry sources cited in an earlier report from Commercial Times, besides Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400,  Apple’s A18 and M4 series are also said to be built using TSMC’s N3 family. Moreover, Google’s Tensor G5 may compete in the market as well.

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(Photo credit: Qualcomm)

MediaTek and Xiaomi Group have deepened their collaboration. On July 2, Xiaomi China’s Vice President of Marketing and General Manager of the Redmi brand, Wang Teng, announced on Weibo that the joint laboratory between Xiaomi and MediaTek has officially opened at Xiaomi’s Shenzhen R&D Center, with the new “Redmi K70 Supreme Edition” being the first product from the joint lab.

According to a report by etnet, the joint laboratory between Xiaomi and MediaTek covers five core capabilities, focusing on three major technological parts: performance, communication, and AI.

MediaTek, a global leader in smartphone chip shipment, maintains close cooperation with its brand clients.

Wang noted that following the Post-Performance Era Launch event last year, the cooperation between Xiaomi and MediaTek has reached another notch with a  goal of creating the strongest product performance experience and realizing the pre-research and implementation of the latest technologies.

A report from ithome revealed that Xiaomi and MediaTek have already entered into several collaborative agreements in the past, in which Xiaomi was often the first to launch new Dimensity processors. The two companies have also co-developed several Ultra versions of Dimensity processors.

Wang described the K70 Supreme Edition as the “performance demon” and the most sincere value-for-money product, offering a more comprehensive flagship experience. It is a gold standard for Dimensity performance jointly created by Redmi and MediaTek, aiming for three number ones: highest performance scores, best game frame rate/energy efficiency, and longest concurrent operation of super frame rate and super resolution.

Wang also mentioned that especially for the third goal, MediaTek, based on Dimensity 9300+ chip, has equipped the K70 Supreme Edition with the new-generation gaming discrete GPU and its self-developed dual-chip scheduling technology. “Not only to achieve super frame rate and super resolution in original/iron mode but also to realize the longest concurrent operation time, allowing users to enjoy games for longer periods.”

MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ is part of the Dimensity 9300 series of chips, launched in May this year. It is built using TSMC’s 4nm process and features an eight-core CPU with four Cortex-X4 super cores, reaching a maximum frequency of 3.4GHz, surpassing the level of Dimensity 9300.

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(Photo credit: MediaTek)

According to a report from South Korean media outlet The Financial News, MediaTek, Taiwan’s largest smartphone IC designer, has the opportunity to enter Samsung’s Galaxy S25 supply chain as one of the main chip suppliers for the next generation flagship smartphone. Samsung’s S series smartphones have traditionally adopted a “dual-track” strategy, using both in-house Exynos chips and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon. MediaTek, on the other hand, has declined to comment on this matter.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 is said to be equipped with MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300+ application processor, marking the first instance of MediaTek’s AP being adopted by Samsung’s flagship tablet, according to a report by the Korean media outlet The Chosun Daily.

The latest report by the Financial News further highlights that MediaTek’s APs have primarily been used in Samsung’s mid-to-low-end smartphones. The decision to use MediaTek’s AP in the Galaxy Tab S10 series, instead of Qualcomm’s or Samsung’s own APs, is a significant shift for Samsung.

The report indicates that Samsung’s Galaxy S25 smartphones will not only use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chips and Samsung’s own Exynos 2500 chips but may also use MediaTek’s Dimensity chips in some regions. It is speculated that the chip in discussion is the yet-to-be-announced Dimensity 9400. If true, the S25 could be available in versions with Exynos 2500, Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, and Dimensity 9400 chips.

The report cites sources, suggesting that this rumor is not entirely without merit, as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip is expected to be 30% more expensive than its predecessor. Currently, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip is rumored to cost around $190-200 per unit, while the 8 Gen 4 could be priced at $260. Samsung’s consideration of incorporating MediaTek chips, or at least using this possibility as leverage in price negotiations with Qualcomm, is plausible.

Qualcomm has been releasing new flagship mobile chips annually and designing custom versions for Samsung’s high-end phones. For instance, the current Samsung S24 series, including the S24 Ultra and some regional versions of the S24 Plus and S24, use Qualcomm’s tailored Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, designed specifically for Galaxy phones and featuring advanced AI capabilities.

It is worth noting that there is a close collaborative relationship between Samsung and Qualcomm. Some of Qualcomm’s chip manufacturing orders are handled by Samsung’s foundry division, while some of Samsung’s mobile chips use Qualcomm’s main processors. If MediaTek succeeds in integrating its Dimensity 9400 into Samsung’s smartphone supply chain, it would be a significant milestone for MediaTek.

The report from The Chosun Daily also highlighted that from Samsung’s perspective, choosing Dimensity to reduce costs and diversify the supply chain is a sensible decision.

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(Photo credit: MediaTek)