The hour was, these last days, with the publication of the financial results of the giants of new technologies. MediaTek, one of the main designers of chips for smartphones, also delivered its performance for the third quarter ended September 30, certainly posting an increase in turnover of 8.5% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2021, but a drop in form of 8.7% compared to the 2nd quarter of the year, for an amount of 142.161 billion Taiwan dollars (4.434 billion euros).
MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai spoke to the brand’s investors following the release of its results. He emphasizes, as reported by the Taipei Timesthat despite growth in its turnover over the year as a whole, the Taiwanese will not be able to achieve the objectives it had set itself. “Given the uncertainties in the global macroeconomic environment and market demand, we are seeing our customers globally limit their orders […]. We expect the adjustments made by our customers to have even more impact in the fourth quarter”.
This is reflected, according to Tsai, by excessive reluctance on the part of customers, who are slow to order chipsets from MediaTek. And to conclude: “Our industry hasn’t seen a downturn of this intensity in probably a decade”. MediaTek is not alone in making this observation, smartphone sales having posted a sharp drop in the last quarter already noted by specialized research firms, such as Canalys.
To raise the bar, MediaTek is nevertheless counting on the sales of 5G-compatible chips, which should pass the 50% mark of its sales by next year. The manufacturer will notably be able to count on its future Dimensity 9200, which should be announced before the end of the year, to better compete with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, also expected within a few weeks.