The Android smartphone market in the US is quite different from Europe or Asia, in that there are fewer options, especially at the mid-range and low-end. But even when we’re talking high-end, one thing is obvious – all of the top shelf devices in that market use a Qualcomm chipset. No MediaTek anywhere (and no Exynos either, for what it’s worth). And that’s despite the fact that MediaTek’s 9000 series chips have, for a few years now, been very close in performance to Qualcomm’s latest and greatest.
The situation will thankfully change later this year, when, for the first time, a “premium” high-end smartphone will officially launch in the US powered by a MediaTek SoC. This information comes straight from the chipmaker itself, and was revealed as part of its Analyst Day today.
Breaking news out of #MediaTekAnalystDay: the first @MediaTek premium segment smartphone will launch in the US later this year. pic.twitter.com/oG1FgxA5yO
— Nirave 尼拉夫 (@nirave) May 2, 2024
It’s unclear what device this will be. We don’t even know what manufacturer will be bringing it to the US. Furthermore, it’s unclear if it will be powered by the already available Dimensity 9300, the Dimensity 9300+ which is due to be unveiled in a few days, or the Dimensity 9400 which is a few months off at least at this point.
But, regardless, it looks like the US market will finally get a new option when it comes to high performance smartphone chipsets later this year, and that can only be a boon for consumers. If we were to speculate a little bit, perhaps the upcoming OnePlus Open 2 will go for the Dimensity 9400? That would be quite an achievement for MediaTek, seeing as how the original OnePlus Open went with Qualcomm instead. Anyway, we’ll let you know when we find out more.
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