Taiwan's MediaTek says open to cooperation with China in chip sector

Powertech Technology

02/11/2015 06:39

TAIPEI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Taiwan and China should cooperate 
in the semiconductor sector, Taiwan chip designer MediaTek Inc 
 2454.TW  said on Monday, in response to media reports that said 
China's state-backed tech conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd was 
interested in the firm.  
    Taiwan's government heavily regulates investments related to 
China and the island's semiconductor industry, which is a 
mainstay for the economy and one of the world's largest. 
    China is trying to develop its own fledgling chip industry 
and on Friday, Tsinghua Unigroup said it was buying a 25 percent 
stake in Powertech Technology Inc  6239.TW  for $600 million. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12U48M 
    Taiwan's Commercial Times newspaper quoted Tsinghua 
Unigroup's Chairman Zhao Weiguo as saying on Sunday his firm 
would be willing to merge its units Spreadtrum and RDA 
Microelectronics with MediaTek in order to overtake Qualcomm Inc 
 QCOM.O .  
    Asked about the media report, MediaTek said in a statement 
that as long as government policies allowed, it was open to 
"join hands and raise the status and competitiveness of the 
Chinese and Taiwanese enterprises in the global chip industry".  
    Unigroup became a force to be reckoned with in the 
semiconductor industry after it bought Chinese chipmakers RDA 
Microelectronics and Spreadtrum in deals totalling $1.6 billion 
last year. 
    In October, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters 
that Tsinghua Unigroup had hired as its global executive vice 
president a Taiwanese chip industry veteran who was instrumental 
in building up Taiwan's memory chip sector.  
     
     
 
 (Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Miral Fahmy) 
 ((jr.wu@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2500 4881; Reuters 
Messaging: jr.wu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: MEDIATEK TSINGHUA UNIGROUP/