MediaTek Inc., the largest integrated circuit designer in Taiwan, became the world’s eighth-largest semiconductor supplier in 2021, according to a report from the United States-based market advisory firm IC Insights.
The report said that the Taiwanese tech giant enjoyed a more than 60 year-on-year percent increase in sales after posting US$17.7 billion in revenue in 2021.
IC Insights’ rankings excluded pure-play foundry operators such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).
MediaTek and the U.S.-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), which generated US$16.4 billion in sales and took the 10th spot, replaced Apple Inc. and Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG among the top 10 semiconductor suppliers worldwide.
According to IC Insights, MediaTek and AMD held a 2.9 percent and a 2.7 percent share, respectively, in the global semiconductor market.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. held top spot after generating US$82.0 billion in sales in 2021, ahead of U.S.-based Intel Corp. (US$76.7 billion in sales), South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc. (US$37.4 billion), the U.S.’ Micron Technology Inc. (US$30.0 billion), Qualcomm Inc. (US$29.3 billion), Nvidia Corp. (US$23.2 billion), and Broadcom Inc. (US$21.0 billion).
Among the top 10 semiconductor suppliers, five were fabless IC companies — Qualcomm, Nvidia, Broadcom, MediaTek, and AMD, according to IC Insights.
An earlier report released by American market advisory firm Gartner Inc. showed MediaTek took seventh place among the top semiconductor suppliers in 2021, up one spot from a year earlier.
In the Gartner report, which also excluded contract chipmakers, Samsung also ranked the world’s No. 1 semiconductor supplier, followed by Intel, SK Hynix, Micron, and Qualcomm.
In the Taiwanese IC designer’s annual report, MediaTek Chairman Tsai Ming-kai (???) said the company had worked with its pure wafer foundry partner to develop advanced processes, including 3D chipsets to support high-performance computing devices.
While Tsai did not name its partner, it is widely thought to be TSMC, as MediaTek is one of TSMC’s largest customers.
In 2021, MediaTek posted a record-high NT$493.4 billion (US$16.73 billion) in consolidated sales and a new high of NT$70.56 in earnings per share.
Market statistics showed that MediaTek was the largest smartphone IC supplier in the world in 2021.
Tsai said he had faith MediaTek would continue to ride the waves of strong cash flows on the back of its improving profitability to allow its shareholders to share the earnings of the company.
MediaTek has proposed issuing NT$73-per-share cash dividends, drawn from NT$57 per share assigned from its earnings, and a special dividend of NT$16 per share allocated from its capital surplus.
The NT$57-per-share cash dividend from its earnings represents around an 81 percent payout ratio, and Tsai said his company would continue with the four-year special dividend payout to provide generous cash dividends to the company’s shareholders.
MediaTek has scheduled an annual general meeting for May 31 to vote the cash dividend payout proposal.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel