If there's one thing MediaTek does well, it's selling cheaply and at scale. Its Helio chipsets, for example, are ubiquitous in the lower third of the smartphone market. However, existing 5G CPE hardware is comparatively expensive, and while that cost can be attributed to a relatively small market and the necessity to recoup spent R&D costs, added competition should help drive prices southwards.
In the meantime several mid-end 5G chipsets have been announced, not only by Qualcomm but also its competitors and the end of the year has even seen the release of even lower-end chipsets such as the Mediatek Dimensity 720 that is powering the cheapest 5G phone, the Oppo Realme v3, at 146 USD (in China) or the Snapdragon 480 (announced at the beginning of 2021).
Huawei to buy cheap MediaTek 5G chips
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