MediaTek may soon be powered by AMD graphics

MWC is a lot more than just a show floor for device announcements, it is the largest venue for mobile world tech and most-importantly – innovation. A lot of things can be learned at the show about the future plans of industry players and a possible cooperation between MediaTek and AMD is definitely among the most interesting.

Industry sources hint at a major cooperation between the two companies that has been under way for quite some time now. So, all things considered, AMD might be returning to the mobile GPU scene as a vendor for tailor-made graphics accelerators for MediaTek SoCs. This is all great news and the partnership could potentially be huge for both parties.

On one side we have MediaTek – the fast-growing, Taiwanese chip manufacturer. It has become a formidable brand in the mobile industry and supplies SoC’s to most every major market player. The thing is though, unlike the competition, like Qualcomm with their Adreno chips, or Nvidia, with the Maxwell, MediaTek does not have an in-house solution. It still relies on graphics by ARM and Imaginations Technologies, which definitely hurts optimization and leaves the company’s otherwise competitive chips, a little lacking in the GPU department.

This is where AMD comes in. The American company has a formidable legacy in the mobile section – in fact, Qualcomm’s own, quite-successful Adreno chips are based on what was once AMD’s Imageon technology. Even though the chip manufacturer mostly sticks to the desktop PC market nowadays, it does possess the expertise and potential to develop excellent low-powered graphics solutions. And, after all, what better way to grow, than exploring new markets.

None of this has been officially confirmed by either side, so it might be a while before we see some actual results hit the market, but hopefully AMD will once again find its honorable place in today’s mobile market.

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