MediaTek releases Dimensity 9600 Pro mobile chip

MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday unveiled a new smartphone chip made using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) most advanced manufacturing technology, targeting the premium handset market with semiconductors capable of running more artificial intelligence (AI) features directly on the device.

It is part of an effort to gain ground on US rival Qualcomm Inc in premium phones, where higher-priced devices and AI features offer chipmakers better margins.

MediaTek said the Dimensity 9600 Pro is its first mobile processor built using TSMC’s cutting-edge 2-nanometer process. It also introduced the Dimensity 9600M, made using TSMC’s 3nm process and aimed at a broader segment of the flagship smartphone market.

MediaTek showcases its new Dimensity 9600 Pro flagship chip at a press event in Taipei on Friday last week.

Photo: Reuters

The first smartphones powered by the two chips will be launched soon, the company said. It has supplied chips to Chinese smartphone customers such as Xiaomi Corp (小米), Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀) and Vivo Communication Technology Co (維沃).

The 9600 Pro includes a dedicated AI processor, known as a neural processing unit (NPU), that MediaTek said can handle more complex generative-AI applications on the phone itself. It said that the NPU delivered a 51 percent improvement over the last generation in processing a user’s prompt before an AI model begins generating a response, without offering details.

MediaTek’s market value surpassed that of Qualcomm earlier this year.

MediaTek corporate senior vice president J.C. Hsu (徐敬全) said the company was working with handset makers on ways to limit the effect of higher component costs on consumers as the AI boom strains supply chains.

Hsu saw opportunities for MediaTek as advanced hardware and new AI features make higher price tags increasingly common.

“As the overall market moves to higher prices, I believe there is still room for us to increase our share of the flagship segment,” Hsu said.

Apple Inc’s new foldable iPhone, announced last week, retails for as much as US$3,199 in the US for the highest-storage model.

MediaTek, one of the world’s largest designers of smartphone chips, has been expanding its AI business into datacenter and custom chip products, as technology companies pour billions of dollars into AI infrastructure.

Its first AI accelerator designed for a major US cloud service provider is expected to enter mass production in the fourth quarter of this year.

The company raised US$3.9 billion last month through a convertible bond sale, with Nvidia Corp investing US$3.5 billion in the offering, while Alphabet Inc, a long-term MediaTek partner in AI infrastructure, also participated.