MediaTek to Offer Its First Cell Phone Chips in 2003 (Update1)
By Alan Patterson
quote.bloomberg.com
Hsinchu, Taiwan, May 29 (Bloomberg) -- MediaTek Inc., Taiwan's second-largest semiconductor designer, plans to offer its first chips for mobile phones by the middle of next year as more rivals muscle in on its DVD-player chip business.
``We've been looking for our next growth momentum,'' said Mingto Yu, director of MediaTek's finance division, in an interview. ``There are lots of mobile phone makers in Taiwan, China and South Korea that we can sell to.''
MediaTek is turning to new products to sustain growth in profits, which quadrupled to $94.5 million in the first quarter as sales tripled. That rate of growth may be threatened as rivals such as Via Technologies Inc., Taiwan's biggest chip designer, start offering DVD-player chips, investors said.
``Ninety five percent of MediaTek's sales will still come from its current products until 2004,'' said Samir Mehta, who counts MediaTek shares among the $2.2 billion that he helps manage for Lloyd George Management. ``If Via chips away at those products, MediaTek's super-normal profits will probably fall.''
The shares of MediaTek, which listed on the Taiwan stock market in July last year, fell as much as 1.7 percent to NT$520 in early trading. They have declined more than a third in the past month on investor concern that waning demand for electronics products may hurt the company's profit in the second quarter.
The shares recently traded for NT$526, down 0.6 percent. |
