Basically it doesn’t make any sense to purchase a mobile division that failed to produce any significant phone designs. MediaTek is making much better mobile SoCs than Intel. Intel is making decent modems and some might end up in iPhone 7, but MediaTek is in position to make a modem that supports beyond Cat. 6 and it is already working on 5G LTE technology ready for deployment in a couple years.

The recent MediaTek merger announcement might have to do with the automotive industry, but we don’t have any concrete information. NXP Semiconductors N.V. and Freescale Semiconductor merged last December and created the biggest automotive chip supplier. This led us to believe that MediaTek will announce some sort of deal with an automotive focused giant.

MediaTek Chairman and CEO Tsai Ming-Kai has already voiced his interest in getting MediaTek into the automotive industry. Some sort of partnership with NXP – Freescale might be the quick way in. Mediatek has suspended its trading on the Taiwan stock exchange and this might be a big indicator that something is going on.

For what it is worth, we will know more soon.