“Democratising technology’ – A conversation with Director, Corporate Sales at MediaTek

Rami Osman, Director, Corporate Sales, MEA at MediaTek Inc, discusses how MediaTek is positioned in the MEA region, new products and solutions, channel strategy, and new partnerships in an exclusive interview with Rabab Zehra, Executive Editor, TECHx. Continue reading to find out what MediaTek has been up to.

TECHx: Can you please sum up briefly what MediaTek is known for; what makes it unique among its competitors?

Rami: On a global scale, and particularly in the MEA region, MediaTek is known for its diverse portfolio consisting of varied smart devices and connectivity solutions. Our USP lies in the high value we offer our customers as a complete Consumer Electronics company. With our focus on democratising technology, we are working to create an inclusive ecosystem revolving around enhanced chipsets featuring boosted speed, quality, safety, and security. MediaTek is also unique in the aspect wherein we cross-leverage R&D between product categories such as smart TVs and smartphones, to offer splendidly smart devices to our customers.

TECHx: Let us know about recent products and solutions you offer to help organizations accelerate their digital transformation.

Rami: MediaTek is a global market leader in chipset technology, powering power-efficient and incredibly intelligent smartphones and connected devices including automotive solutions and a broad range of advanced multimedia products such as smartphones, tablets, digital televisions, 5G, Voice Assistant Devices (VAD) and wearables.

MediaTek is keen on enabling a connected and smart ecosystem across organisations and homes. As a global fabless semiconductor company that enables nearly 2 billion connected devices a year, MediaTek is a market leader in developing innovative systems-on-chip (SoC) for mobile devices, smart homes and home entertainment, connectivity and IoT products. We offer a host of products and solutions which are aimed at accelerating digital transformation, including highly power-efficient mobile technologies, automotive solutions and a broad range of advanced multimedia products such as smartphones, tablets, digital televisions, 5G, Voice Assistant Devices (VAD), Wi-Fi routers, fitness systems, Blu-Ray and DVDs, set-top boxes, optical drives, smart plugs, smart lights and wearables.

For instance, we are helping accelerate digital transformation through Mobile Point of Sales Android machines in South Africa, 5G routers at home and in cars in the GCC region, and home Wi-Fi and DSL migration projects in Egypt. Further, Android

tablets and smart assistants, along with a wide range of smart home devices, are also contributing to the ongoing digital transformation in the region.

TECHx: What opportunities does the Middle East Africa region offer MediaTek? Tell us about your presence and business development initiatives in this region.

Rami: The Middle East Africa region is one of the world’s fastest-growing in terms of smartphone adoption and this offers huge opportunities to our OEM customers who design and manufacture innovative devices using our chipsets MediaTek Helio for 4G and MediaTek Dimensity for 5G. MediaTek’s market share has grown steadily in the last three years and it currently exceeds 50% in more than a few markets as per the latest IDC and Counterpoint reports. Most of the growth is happening in 4G as Africa’s 5G development is still in the pipeline and will require a few more years.

Going ahead, the GCC region, which is one of the world’s most advanced 5G regions, is a top target for us and we continue to push the technology barrier of performance and efficiency with operators such as Saudi Telecom. We recently announced the region’s first three-carrier carrier aggregation or what we call 3NR CA, NR being New Radio or 5G, with Saudi Telecom to boost our position in the market.

Besides smartphones, the demand for smart and connected devices is growing in the MEA region, with the young population adopting a more digital lifestyle. We keep seeing robust growth in Home Connectivity devices using DSL in Egypt while in GCC markets like UAE, the demand is more towards WiFi 7, which we are providing with the most advanced chipset platform MediaTek Filogic.

TECHx: Tell us about your regional channel strategy in light of the evolving business landscape over the past two years. How are you empowering channel partners in the region?

Rami: As a global brand, MediaTek has always maintained consistency through effective communications with our multinational brand partners and local OEM and channel partners. Some of our OEM partners in MEA region include Tornado TVs in Egypt (El Araby), YOCO POS terminals in South Africa and Vestel home appliances in Turkey among others. In light of the evolving business landscape, we are working closely with our channel partners to understand customer demands and create the most innovative and sophisticated smart device technology possible. We are also considering strategic partnerships to boost our outreach and product portfolio significantly. Going forward, MediaTek will continue to work with leading OEM’s partners operating in the region and deliver the best products to meet the demands of a variety of users.

TECHx: Tell us more about your partnerships in the telecom and CE industries.

Rami: In the MEA region, MediaTek is currently collaborating with telecom operators to bring 5G to the customers at the earliest possible juncture. This is similar to how we collaborated with the operators when 3G and 4G networks were made available. 5G is the new generation of mobile connectivity service that we subscribe to and use to connect to the internet and communicate via computers and mobile phones, without needing a cable or even a WiFi hotspot. Our cooperation with telecom operators is a must as, otherwise, consumers may end up with smartphones and other smart devices which don’t work with the network. For example, here in the UAE we continuously test new 5G features with Etisalat and DU to make sure that customers’ devices connect flawlessly with their networks.

The model of cooperation with Consumer Electronics industry is different. In this landscape, the focus is on R&D and knowledge transfer as we enable them to design and make new solutions based on our chipsets. For example, Vestel in Turkey is manufacturing smart ovens that can judge the cooking temperature needed by using a camera. The logic and decision-making behind the camera is powered by our chipsets, so we need to help them design the system which consists of a printed circuit board (PCBA) and develop the software based on our algorithms to ensure optimal devices.