Why Is 2025 a Bright Year For MediaTek? With an aim to solidify its presence in the India market, MediaTek has a plan of action for 2025

What was once an invisible and almost demure part of an electronic device, is now the talk of the town. Gadgets are often evaluated by their performances. Ever thought what powers these devices? It's the chip, a tiny piece of wafer, containing millions of electronic components. The journey of one of the most successful global chip companies in India, dates back to the 2000s. It started as an R & D company and is now the heart behind the majority of smartphones we use today. MediaTek's story in India is about thriving and setting the bar high. It was 2007-2008 when the company started to work with a partner. "Initially, we tried to develop the Indian ecosystem for feature phones. We slowly moved towards smartphones, and around the same time, our chip set sales in India started to pick up. Ever since we have been growing," said Anku Jain, MD, MediaTek India.

Earlier known as a business to business (B2B) company, it has now transitioned into a business to customers (B2C) company.

"We have now become a B2B2C company. Customers have now started to view chipset as a priority because they are aware of the importance of a wafer. As a tech company, we need to educate and empower the end consumer. They need to make the right decision while investing in the technology," explained Anuj Sidharth, director - marketing & corporate communications, MediaTek.

MediaTek is the world's fifth largest global fabless semiconductor company. It powers more than 2 billion connected devices a year. Almost 1,000-plus employees are based in India.

With an aim to solidify its presence in the India market, MediaTek has a plan of action for 2025.

What's Hot?

As a chipset company, it has a ubiquitous presence. Although smartphones are its biggest growth drivers in India, since the beginning of 2025, it has been seeing strong traction in Internet of Things (IoT devices), smart TVs, voice assistant speakers, fitness gadgets and routers.

"IoT is a big segment for us because more devices are becoming intelligent in the age of artificial intelligence(AI). It is more fragmented as there are hundreds of applications. To capture a bigger market share in the segment, we need to work with our ecosystem partners," Jain added.

Understanding the market with strong R&D is essential for doing better business. The company recently launched the Dimensity 9300, Dimensity 9400, Dimensity 9200+, and the Dimensity 8000 series, all designed for high-performance gaming with features like ray tracing and enhanced power efficiency.

"Our teams focus on comprehensive R&D before bringing in any new product. The gaming related processors are the biggest examples of being updated in a rapidly evolving tech world. We need to power peoples' ambitions and R&D helps us understand what is relevant," said Sidharth.

The Dimensity chips were designed keeping in mind the increasing gaming audience in India. In 2023, India's gaming market was valued at $2.2 billion and had 568 million gamers.

Jain attributes the tech giant's current success to Gen Z and Gen Alpha. "Although they are driving growth, we need to acknowledge India specific reasons. Here smartphones are the only device through which people have Internet access, even in the remotest of areas. This is one of the biggest reasons behind our growth," he said.

Uptick in Market Share

MediaTek has a 52 per cent market share in India's smartphone chipset market, as of Q4 2024.

"From Q3 of 2020, we have been leading. It's definitely something we love to do. Being at the top means we are democratizing technology and reaching the masses. That's really important for us," Jain explained.

From entry level to mid-level and premium to flagship segment, the company has a presence across all the ranges. It has powered smartphones in the 5G segment priced below INR 8,000. Brands like Lava, OPPO, Realme, POCO, and Tecno have MediaTek-powered 5G smartphones below the range and 4G models that are even more budget-friendly.

When asked about bringing the prices further down, Sidharth said, "The prices are coming down and we plan to make it more affordable, but we don't have any specific target."

"Not only in the lower ranges, we are seeing success in the premium and flagship segment too. In the last few years, our flagship smartphone portfolio has increased and we aim to lead there as well," Sidharth added.

MediaTek offers several Dimensity chipsets for premium and flagship phones, including the Dimensity 9000, 9200, 9300+, 9400, 8300 Ultra, and 8200, known for their high performance and efficiency. Smartphones from Samsung, OnePlus, Vivo are in these ranges.

Counterpoint Research suggests that INR 45,000 (around $350 USD) will represent 35per cent of the premium Android segment in India by the end of 2025.

What's Next?

The tech heavyweight is working in 6G technology and if all goes as per plan, it might have the entire range of 6G devices in India.

Furthermore, MediaTek powers many two-wheelers in the country, including the Kinetic Green Flex and Kinetic Green E-Luna X1, which are both EVs. Jio Things and MediaTek recently collaborated on a 4G Smart Android Digital Cluster and Smart Module for two-wheeler EVs. It works with Indian automakers designing four-wheel vehicles, powering infotainment systems. Some of the vehicles using MediaTek's infotainment solutions include Tata Punch.eV and Skoda Slavia.

"We are offering all these kinds of futuristic technologies. In the automotive space, there is more demand in the country and there will be products coming up. The automotive segment in India is going to be of top priority for us. We are working with many partners but won't be announcing anything soon," Sidharth added.

At Computex 2024, MediaTek announced working with NVIDIA to extend their partnership into personal computers (PCs), with the launch of their first AI PC expected in 2025. When asked about a MediaTek powered AI PC in India, Sidharth said, "Currently, we are focused on Chromebooks and Tablets in India. We are working with partners to bring in a lot of AI products."

What makes India an important market? the MD explained, "The consumer behavior is changing. There is a shift towards premiumization. We want to leverage this opportunity and serve a market full of aspirational people. At MediaTek, we have all the ingredients to satisfy that kind of aspirations. Our demographic dividend is also playing a big role. There is demand coming in from Tier II and Tier III cities too, all these factors cumulatively play a huge role in making India a lucrative destination for us."