MediaTek To Make chips in “Intel 16”

With MediaTek, Intel has won its first known customer for its own contract manufacturing company. However, both parties are still silent about whether MediaTek will also be the first major customer. The US government made Intel’s first customer commitment a year ago.

MediaTek counting on TSMC

Every year, more than 2 billion end devices with chip technology from MediaTek are launched on the market, which MediaTek usually develops on an ARM basis but does not manufacture itself.

Taiwan-based MediaTek also currently relies heavily on process technology from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer – also based in Taiwan. In the future, some of the chips will be manufactured by Intel Foundry Services (IFS).

Thin details yet

There’s no word on when the first wafers will be exposed with MediaTek designs at Intel and how many there will be Intel’s press release from. Intel doesn’t mention the process either. Noisy Tom’s hardware MediaTek will initially use “Intel 16”, the well-known but revised 22nm FinFET production. In the future, this process will also be offered at Intel’s new $17 billion factory in Magdeburg and is also explicitly designed for outsourcing.

No high-end chips at the moment

With the choice of the process, it is clear that MediaTek will not be focusing Intel on diversification and protection at the top of the portfolio for the time being, but for the chips that are less trimmed for high performance.

The current flagship SoC Dimensity 9000+ is off the assembly line at TSMC in the 4nm process. That Chip Designer Portfolio from Taiwan includes SoCs for smartphones and tablets, IoT devices and SmartTVs, as well as Wi-Fi and cellular modems. The cooperation is of a “strategic nature” and is intended for several years.