"The company has proved wildly popular among Chinese phone makers. Besides supplying Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE, MediaTek also supports lesser-known manufacturers, including those that make so-called bandit phones that imitate premium models from Apple, Samsung and HTC. TCL Communication Technology Holdings, a Chinese phone maker that sells phones primarily in Europe and Latin America, uses MediaTek’s chips.
"MediaTek estimates that it will lead the Chinese market by selling 110 million smartphone chips in 2012, up from 10 million chips a year ago. By comparison, Qualcomm, the global leader in smartphone chips, is expected to finish 2012 in second place in China with 82 million chips shipped, according to the research firm DigiTimes.
"MediaTek also released a chip last year for [Wi-Fi only without mobile connection like 3G] These phones can cost as little as $50, or 312 renminbi. Those chips now account for 40 percent of MediaTek’s smartphone chip sales, according to the company.
Note:
(a) MediaTek’s chief financial officer, David KU 聯發科技首席財務官 顧大為
(b) The report says, "For now, Apple has signaled that it has no intention of competing on price."
Well, read this:
Jessica E Lessen, A Low-Priced iPhone Awaits; Apple is considering using a shell made of polycarbonate plastic instead of aluminum. Wall Street Journal, Jan 9, 2013.
* Also known as BPA (bisphenol A; as the monomer), polycarbonate (PC) is a plastic that is assigned No 7--or Other--for recycle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarbonate