SLOWING PHONE SALES:The Hsinchu-based chipmaker said that it would also focus on chips for in-vehicle infotainment, telematics and advanced driver-assistance systems

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 30, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which designs smartphone chips for China’s Xiaomi Corp (小米), yesterday said it plans to produce its first processors for autonomous cars next quarter as the growth of worldwide mobile phone sales decelerates.

The company’s announcement also came about one month after bigger rival Qualcomm Inc unveiled a US$47 billion acquisition of the world’s biggest automotive chip supplier, NXP Semiconductors NV, to expand its businesses beyond mobile phones.

“Automotive is a segment that is forecast to have a higher growth rate than other applications for the semiconductor industry. That is why most semiconductor companies have actively tapped into the automotive segment in recent years,” MediaTek New Business Department general manager J.C. Hsu (徐敬全) told a news conference.

The composite annual growth rate of the automotive semiconductor sector is forecast to grow by as much as 7 percent from this year to 2020, surpassing the worldwide vehicle growth rate of 3 percent, Hsu said, citing an unspecified market researcher’s projection.    [FULL  STORY]