MediaTek stated that the company has secured a second customer for its AI chip, expanding the production line for AI ASIC. The goal is to achieve mass production by 2028. The chip design company confirmed this transaction during its financial report conference call on October 30, 2026, and also raised its revenue target for ASIC in 2027 to approximately $16 billion.
Key Points
- MediaTek stated that its second customer for custom AI chips is not a Chinese company.
- The shipment of the first batch of AI accelerators commenced in September 2026, but on a smaller scale.
- The company expects its data center revenue for the fourth quarter of 2026 to be $2.5 billion.
- A more complex second-generation chip plan is scheduled to begin mass production before the first quarter of 2028.
MediaTek's AI ASIC production expanded to a second customer
MediaTek has already begun collaborating with a second customer on chip design, with plans to start mass production in 2028. The company confirmed that this buyer is not a Chinese enterprise, refuting previous speculation that ByteDance was the behind-the-scenes client in this transaction.
The chips for the first customer have entered the shipment phase. MediaTek began delivering small batches of its first AI accelerator ASIC in September 2026, and CEO Hsieh Hsien-hsing stated that there is strong demand for this product.
Therefore, these two customer projects are at different stages: the first customer has already begun preliminary delivery, while the second customer is still in the joint design phase.
The second-generation chip is aimed at higher energy efficiency.
MediaTek's second-generation ASIC adopts advanced multi-chiplet packaging, and several of these chiplets have already undergone tape-out. This indicates that its design has been finalized and sent for manufacturing.
A more complex version of mass production is expected to be launched before the first quarter of 2028. MediaTek anticipates that the performance per watt of its second-generation chips will be several times higher than that of the first generation, while also reducing the overall cost of ownership for customers.
$16 billion revenue target and a 20% market estimate
MediaTek has raised its revenue target for ASIC in 2027 to approximately $16 billion. The company estimates that this revenue level may account for about 20% of the AI accelerator market.
More recent forecasts indicate that data center revenue is expected to reach $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2026. This forecast precedes the timeline for the second customer's chip plan to begin mass production in 2028.
Before the release of the above forecast, the company announced that both revenue and profit for the third quarter of 2026 had achieved double-digit growth. MediaTek reported that its consolidated revenue amounted to NT$168.06 billion, an increase of 10.4% from the previous quarter and 18.3% compared to the same period last year. The gross margin remained at 46.3%.
The gap between customer diversification, goals, and shipments
The addition of a second customer has expanded MediaTek's base of custom chip clients and reduced the risks in revenue collection. However, the figure of $16 billion is still the target for 2027 and not the revenue that has already been confirmed.
The production schedule also indicates a distinction between the company's financial targets and delivery milestones. MediaTek has begun production for its first customer's AI ASIC, but it is still on a small scale; the mass production target for the second customer is set for 2028.
A more recent financial observation point is for the fourth quarter of 2026, when MediaTek expects its data center revenue to be $2.5 billion.
This article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and has been reviewed by an editorial team.
