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MediaTek's Android smartphone sees hot sales in India(China Post (Taiwan) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The MediaTek-based Android One smartphone rose to the top of the "Bestsellers in Electronics" list on Amazon India's online shopping website just days after it was launched, according to Chinese-language paper Commercial Times. India-based smartphone vendors, including Karbonn, Micromax and Spice, began to market the Android One smartphones featuring MediaTek Inc.'s MT6582 mobile system-on-chip from Sept. 15, MediaTek revealed. Taiwan-based MediaTek was the 4th largest integrated circuit (IC) designer worldwide in 2013. Buoyed by the initial response to the Android One smartphones, MediaTek has said it expects as many as two million handsets to be sold this year in India, the world's second largest market for mobile phones. Southward Double Down Foreign news wires recently reported that Google has teamed up with MediaTek to encourage manufacturers to bring cheaper Android smartphones to market, with Android One being the brainchild of both companies. Android One is aimed at what Google called the "super-mid market" in emerging markets such as India. Concurrently, MediaTek has announced new investment plans in Singapore and India worth US$250 million and US$200 million respectively. According to local media reports, MediaTek earlier announced its plans to invest US$250 million over the next six years in Singapore to strengthen the focus of its existing local research and development (R&D) center on the Internet of Things (IoT), energy conservation and medical markets. Viewed as a springboard for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market, Singapore is growing in importance for the Taiwanese silicon chip slinger. According to Taiwanese media reports, Panasonic, Intel and Philips also intend to establish IoT R&D centers in Singapore. Mediatek's R&D center in Singapore has been established for ten years and recently conducted opening ceremonies for its innovation center. Mediatek also plans to invest US$200 million to expand its presence in India in the next few years. The company is planning to achieve 100 resources in Bangalore by this year-end and 500 in the next few years. |