MediaTek planning 10 million pound investment in U.K.: British PM's Office

London, Nov. 26 (CNA) MediaTek Inc., the largest IC designer from Taiwan, is planning to invest 10 million British pounds (US$12.59 million) in the United Kingdom over the next five years, according to the British Prime Minister's Office.

On the eve of the opening of the 2023 Global Investment Summit in the U.K., the office announced Sunday that the Taiwanese company will invest the 10 million British pounds (about NT$400 million), in several British startups.

Currently, the U.K. has more than 140 Unicorn enterprises -- privately owned startups valued at more than 1 billion each -- which account for about one third of the total number in Europe and more than the combined number in Germany, France and Sweden.

In its most recent autumn statement, the U.K. government said it would provide incentives to attract investments in the country.

So far, the U.K. has attracted US$2.7 trillion in foreign direct investments, the third highest in the world, according to the country's data.

Currently, MediaTek runs two offices, one in Cambridge and the other in Kent, that specialize in research and development.

MediaTek's recent investments in the U.K. included a joint project with the Bullitt Group to develop the world's first two-way satellite communications technology for use in smartphones and other devices.

MediaTek has also partnered with Inmarsat plc in the U.K. to provide satellite communications services to customers.

In Taiwan, MediaTek earlier this month unveiled its Dimensity 8300 chipset, which is designed for premium 5G smartphones and uses the advanced second generation 4 nanometer process developed by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

The first smartphones powered by the new chipset are scheduled to hit the global market at the end of this year.

MediaTek said the Dimensity 8300 is the first premium-tier System on a Chip (SoC) that has full generative AI support, and with this powerful core configuration, the new chipset has 20 percent faster CPU performance and 30 percent peak gains in power efficiency compared to the previous generation chipset.

Market analysts said the Dimensity 8300 is designed to extend generative AI capabilities beyond MediaTek's flagship Dimensity 9300 model, which mirrors rival Qualcomm Inc.'s strategy with its Snapdragon series.

In the second quarter of this year, MediaTek ranked as the fifth largest IC designer in the world, with about US$3.20 billion in sales and an 8.4 percent share in the global market, according to the Taipei-based market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp.