5G to Be Available in 50%-Plus of Smartphones in 2022: MediaTek

The “continuous 5G migration in more regions” will be a big 2022 growth driver for MediaTek, the largest smartphone SoC maker, CEO Rick Tsai told a Q4 call Thursday. MediaTek expects global 5G smartphone penetration to exceed 50% of handsets this year, he said. The 5G penetration rate in China is the highest at 80%, and “we expect 5G unit growth to mainly come from other regions,” he said. With MediaTek’s “early readiness” of 5G modems for Wi-Fi 6E, “we have been able to penetrate the notebook market successfully,” said Tsai. Its partnerships with Intel and Advanced Micro Devices “helped us build a strong designing pipeline with all major global OEMs,” he said. MediaTek estimates more than 2 billion devices sold globally in 2021, including smartphones, smart TVs, notebooks and tablets, used MediaTek, said Tsai. It forecasts its total addressable market will grow to $140 billion in 2024 from $80 billion in 2021, he said.