Mediatek’s Dimensity processors have carved a niche for themselves in the 5G segment. However, the company is yet to make grounds in markets like Europe and the US where Qualcomm is dominating the Mobile market apart from Apple’s Bionic SoC. Latest reports regarding the Dimensity 600 series of budget 5G mobile CPUs could indeed be a ray of hope for the budget consumers and probable trouble for Qualcomm.
Cut to the chase
The Dimensity 600 SoC hasn't yet launched but here's everything you need to know.
Expected specifications
If the rumours are true Mediatek has rightly named the budget CPUs using the 600 initials similar to Qualcomm. Qualcomm’s latest venture into the budget 5G segment with Snapdragon 690 5G SoC offers 60% better graphics and 20% better performance compared to its predecessor.
Regarding the Dimensity 600 specifications too, it is speculated to rival Qualcomm. Reports from China speculate that the 600 series fill follow the 7nm process of its higher-priced 800 and 1000 siblings SoCs. This is the first goal against Qualcomm who has used Samsung’s 8nm on the Snapdragon 690 SoC.
Moving on, the cores, however, are rumoured to be two ARM’s Cortex-A 76 and six A-55. While this is slightly less efficient when compared to the A77 and A55 combo on the Qualcomm, the company could do this probably to keep the costs low.
Of course, the main intention of the CPU will be integrated 5G at an affordable price. However, details regarding the sub-6GHz connectivity, basebands support of 5G, are still a mystery.
Gaining grounds from ban on Huawei
When it comes to procurement, the fabless semiconductor has heavily relied on its Taiwanese counterpart, TSMC. Reports from earlier this week already stated that Mediatek has been chasing TSMC for tripling its 5G shipments post the ban on Huawei.
The US government had banned Huawei from procuring its technology on semiconductor citing security reasons and had given a grace period of up to September for fabricators to clear the already outstanding orders. This has made TSMC to stop the 5nm production originally reserved for Huawei.
However, Mediatek who tried to swoop in to grab some for itself, has made TSMC increase the orders to more than 20,000 wafers per month already. This order of TSMC includes both the 7nm and 12nm processes and falls in line with the rumour of Dimensity 600 series being built on the 7nm process.
Nevertheless, it’s a win-win situation for both TSMC and its partners like Mediatek as demand for 5G is increasing at a rapid phase and with the hiccup on HiSilcon production, Mediatek, whose top of the line is still on 7nm process, is sure to ramp up the plans for 5nm to make better in-roads in future.
Expected launch
While the company hasn’t uttered a word about the existence of budget 600 series of CPUs, rumour mills are already grinding a release this quarter, the end of September to be precise. According to reports, Mediatek will hold a corporate briefing regarding its earning in the second quarter, later this month.
Following this, International Ultra Large Circuit Seminar focusing on 5G and AI technology is scheduled to begin on August 10th, where biggies like Intel, IBM, Mediatek are expected to announce new products and Dimensity 600 series could be the showstopper. Reports already point that Mediatek has received huge orders for the new CPUs from OEMs, who plan to unveil devices powered by the end of this year, even before its release.
This could be due to the aggressive pricing that the CPUs are expected to debut at. That being said, things are starting to look good for the company and a worthy rival for Qualcomm is always welcomed for a healthy competition.
