MediaTek and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or TSMC are reportedly working together once more to develop the next-generation mobile chips. The two are primed to introduce a new SoC which will incorporate 12 CPU cores with the help of the revolutionary 7nm process.
Phone Arena noted that MediaTek and TSMC previously worked together in 2015 to develop the Helio X20 and X25 chipsets which incorporated 10 CPU cores. The two then collaborated for the Helio X30 which rolled out last February. According to DigiTimes, reports indicate that the 10nm process of TSMC has yielded low and problematic rates. Those in the know believe that such news may affect shipments of the Helio X30. MediaTek, however, denied that the schedule of shipment for the 10nm chips has been changed and that fans should expect the flagship chips to be released within the second quarter of this year. The 10nm Helio X30 is reportedly currently in mass production.
Early this month, news came out that MediaTek will no longer try to compete with Qualcomm in producing ARM chips for Windows 10 PCs. The decision came about after Microsoft and Qualcomm struck a deal to have Windows 10 support ARM chips with X86 emulation.
Despite giving up the ARM race for Windows 10, MediaTek is still bent on challenging Qualcomm and its latest mobile processing unit, the Snapdragon 835. With the help of TSMC, MediaTek is hoping that the 7nm manufacturing process will be the key to creating a 12 core processor that is way better than existing processors today. They will have some competition, though, as Samsung is supposedly already scheduled to mass produce its 7nm processors early next year. If Samsung's plans fall through, its 12 core CPU will be released in 2018 just in time for the Galaxy S9 to be the first to come out with a 7nm chipset.
