Secret Operation by Samsung: Mediatek is the Target
Samsung President Lee Jae-yong’s secret visit to Taiwan brought to the fore arguments that the company wanted to separate MediaTek from TSMC.
Samsung continues to take strategic steps with the aim of increasing its share in the foundry market. It is claimed that the company is making attempts to attract MediaTek, one of TSMC’s most valuable customers, to its side.
According to information reflected in Taiwanese media, Samsung President Lee Jae-yong visited Taiwan with a high-level delegation on May 21. It is stated that one of the main agenda items of this secret visit is to meet with MediaTek CEO Cai Lixing.
Samsung’s Strategic Attacks and MediaTek Interest
Samsung continues its growth ambitions on the foundry side after receiving a production order for Tesla’s AI6 chip. While the company continues its negotiations with AMD for the 2nm process, it now aims to gain MediaTek as a valuable customer.
It is said that Samsung may offer MediaTek privileged access to its memory chips for the upcoming Dimensity series portable processors. This approach is similar to tactics Samsung previously used to win over Qualcomm as a foundry customer.
It is known that the relations between MediaTek and TSMC have experienced some tensions recently. While MediaTek awarded the inference-oriented packaging contract for Google’s 8th generation TPU to Intel, it continues to work with TSMC for the education-oriented version.
Market Dynamics and Competition Conditions
The fact that Google chose MediaTek as its main partner for TPU design reveals the value of this cooperation. These steps taken by Samsung to shake TSMC’s market dominance show how intense the competition in the sector has become.
Considering TSMC’s strong position in the foundry market, it is considered a very difficult process for Samsung to achieve this goal. Nevertheless, Samsung’s recent technological investments and market momentum support the company’s determination in this field.
This new subsidiary that Samsung is trying to establish with MediaTek has the potential to change the stability in the portable processor market.
Do you think Samsung will be able to attract one of TSMC’s biggest customers to its side?
