Chipsets such as Helio X10, Helio X20, Helio P10 and several others are not going to be limited to smartphones because Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing company MediaTek is planning to partner with Chromebook manufacturers in order to supply companies with its own mobile SoCs. The announcement was made during Computex 2015, by the company's President C.J. Hsieh.
The executive pointed out that consumers will be hesitant to purchase these Chromebooks sporting MediaTek's chipsets, but after witnessing their price tags, the firm will quickly be able to take control of the affordable notebook market as well. Unfortunately, the individual did not point which mobile chipsets are going to be present in these notebooks and what lithographic process they will be processed on.
So far, the company has tapped TSMC to mass produce MediaTek's 28 nm and 20 nm mobile SoCs. While the following has not been confirmed by MediaTek, it is possible that future will Chromebooks sport the 28 nm architecture. This is because 28 nm chips cost far less as compared to 20 nm ones, which will automatically force Chromebook manufacturers to lower the prices of their notebooks, and target a larger audience in the process.
Currently, the only real competition that MediaTek will be facing will be in the form of Rockchip, which happens to be a Chinese fabless semiconductor maker. After forming a partnership with Asus, the latter was able to stamp a $100 price tag on its Chromebooks. MediaTek will be looking to target the same price group, but without additional details on which chipsets are going to be present, it is difficult to conclude if MediaTek will perform well in this particular market, which is currently being dominated by Intel.
More details will most likely be unveiled concerning these chips in the foreseeable future, after which a more conclusive analysis can be presented.
