Intel Foundry Services to start making chips for MediaTek

Intel today announced that it is partnering with MediaTek to manufacture their chips using Intel Foundry Services. The goal here is to help MediaTek build a more balanced and resilient supply chain through the addition of a new foundry partner with significant capacity in the US and Europe. Last year, the company announced a similar deal with Qualcomm.

Intel is a company that designs and manufactures its own chips. Last year, the company decided to open up this facility to others with the launch of Intel Foundry Services. MediaTek has now signed up to be one of the first major customers to Intel's new venture.

“As one of the world’s leading fabless chip designers powering more than 2 billion devices a year, MediaTek is a terrific partner for IFS as we enter our next phase of growth,” said Intel Foundry Services President Randhir Thakur. “We have the right combination of advanced process technology and geographically diverse capacity to help MediaTek deliver the next billion connected devices across a range of applications.”

Without going into the specifics of the deal or what they will be making, the company said that MediaTek plans to use Intel processing technologies to “manufacture multiple chips for a range of smart edge devices.”

NS Tsai, corporate senior vice president of Platform Technology & Manufacturing Operations at MediaTek, said, “MediaTek has long adopted a multi-sourcing strategy. We have an existing 5G data card business partnership with Intel, and now extend our relationship to manufacturing smart edge devices through Intel Foundry Services. With its commitment to major capacity expansions, IFS provides value to MediaTek as we seek to create a more diversified supply chain. We look forward to building a long-term partnership to serve the fast-growing demand for our products from customers across the globe.”

IFS is currently advantaged by being based in the western hemisphere. With a majority of the current silicon manufacturing coming out of the east, specifically from countries like Taiwan, issues such as the ongoing chip shortages were inevitable especially during the current pandemic.

Intel plans on getting ahead of the situation and helping companies diversify their portfolios by offering its services in the US and Europe. The company has already announced plans for expanding at existing sites in the US and also adding new sites in Ohio and Germany.

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