The growing posture of Qualcomm’s chipsets continues to be at the detriment of rival chipmakers peculiarly Taiwanese fabless chip manufacturer MediaTek. It has been disclosed that the manufacturer expects to article a revenue decline of 12-20% sequentially in the initial quarter of 2019, and flat or slight revenue growth in all of the year.
MediaTek reported consolidated revenues declined 9.2% sequentially to NT$60.89 billion (US$1.98 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2018, thanks mainly to a seasonal slowdown in demand for customer electronics. Gross margin grew 0.4pp on quarter to 38.9%, thanks to a favourable smartphone mix. Also, the Taiwanese chipmaker generated net sales of NT$3.75 billion in the fourth quarter, down 45.4% sequentially, with EPS expected to NT$2.42. MediaTek’s consolidated revenues for all of 2018 slipped 0.1% to NT$238.06 billion whenever gross margin climbed 2.9pp on year to 38.5%. The company posted net income of NT$20.78 billion in 2018, down 13.7%, with EPS reaching NT$13.26.
As claimed by to MediaTek’s CEO Rick Tsai, the company is informed of decelerating cameraphone growth. He also added that the global cameraphone market growth will remain slow until 5G-compatible products become commercially available. MediaTek is stepping up the development of its 5G-enabled solutions, and expects to introduce its 5G SoC series at the close of 2019 following the release of its 5G modem cpu in the first half of the year, Tsai show. The company will Furthermore roll out its new cpu solutions for the next-generation Wi-Fi tech – Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), and automotive electronics products in 2019, Tsai moreover disclosed. The company will continue to diversify its offerings for further smartphone mix improvement, Tsai added. The CEO reported that improvement in the company’s smartphone mix is bearing fruit. Thus, the manufacturer expects to article a gross margin of 38-41% in the first quarter of 2019 no matter an anticipated revenue drop of up to 20%.
