MediaTek made official their new mobile modem called Helio M70, whose main feature is the support for 5G. So the company plans to be ahead of Qualcomm, at least in time, in the mid-range.
This modem will be embedded in several of the brand’s chipsets, which will be delivered to smartphone manufacturers in early 2019. Qualcomm plans to bring 5G into the mid-range only in mid to late 2019, so the company wants to be ahead of schedule.
Remember, although Mediatek chipsets perform less well than Qualcomm’s chipsets, they are also cheaper. Adding support to 5G could help manufacturers choose MediaTek over Qualcomm, at least for 2019.
The other competitors on the scene:
Samsung is also planning Exynos with 5G for the high-end, but there are no new features for the mid-range. The same goes for Huawei and his Kirin chips. Thus, at the beginning of 2019, MediaTek would be the only option if manufacturers wanted to launch a mid-range with 5G.
Source: WCCFTech