Emir BardakçıDuring the Q4 2025 earnings call, MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai expressed strong confidence in the company’s future prospects while issuing a significant warning regarding looming supply chain constraints across the semiconductor industry.
The AI Catalyst & Impending Supply Crunch
Tsai highlighted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is acting as a primary catalyst for industry expansion, driving a massive surge in demand for high-performance silicon. However, he warned that this rapid growth comes with a cost:
-
Supply Shortages: Global supply chains are projected to face significant challenges in fully meeting this growing demand by 2026.
-
Rising Costs & Price Adjustments: The supply/demand imbalance will inevitably lead to increased costs across the entire supply chain. MediaTek announced it will adjust pricing to reflect these increases.
-
Strategic Allocation: The company plans to allocate scarce supply resources across its product lines based on “overall profitability,” suggesting a focus on high-margin, premium AI chipsets over budget tiers.
Q4 2025 Financial Performance
Despite the warnings, MediaTek reported solid growth for the final quarter of 2025:
-
Revenue: NT$150.188 billion (approx. RMB 33.177 billion)
-
Up 8.8% Year-on-Year
-
Up 5.7% Quarter-on-Quarter
-
-
Operating Profit: NT$21.85 billion
-
Up 2.0% Year-on-Year
-
-
Net Profit: NT$23.074 billion (approx. RMB 5.097 billion)
In summary, while MediaTek devices are making significant strides in AI capabilities, the cost of this progress is rising. Consumers and manufacturers should anticipate potential price increases and tighter availability as the industry heads into 2026.
Source: ITHome
