HSINCHU, TAIWAN — February 9, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. and MediaTek Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, today announced a strategic partnership to provide a multimedia-rich smart phone solution primarily aimed at emerging markets. As a result of this deal, consumers will be able to buy a wide range of feature-rich Windows phones with the best cost-performance ratio in the market.

While smartphones have long been gaining traction in developed countries, a number of analysts predict that the best years of growth are still to come from emerging markets. With its long-standing cooperation with handset makers and market experience, MediaTek expects this partnership with Microsoft to drive smartphone penetration in the targeted markets.

Built on the Windows Phone 6 platform, these multimedia-rich smartphones will have full touch capabilities and offer advanced communication features including email and Internet access. 
“There is a huge thirst for smartphones in emerging markets. For many people, the phone rather than the PC is the main entry point to the Internet, resulting in a high demand for rich communication devices. In order to meet this demand, we have teamed up with MediaTek to facilitate the provision of affordable smartphones,” said Daren Mancini, General Manager for OEM Mobile, Microsoft.

“MediaTek is enabling handset manufacturers to optimize their product offerings to address a larger audience with competitive pricing on our smartphone solutions,” said JiChang Hsu, Executive Vice President of MediaTek. “Together with Microsoft and our partner network, we look forward to providing wireless communication solutions that help people enjoy richer mobile and multimedia lives. We believe our products and services will continue to meet people’s future needs for entertainment, communication, and information.”

About MediaTek

Since 1997, MediaTek has been a pioneering fabless semiconductor company and a market leader in cutting-edge systems-on-chip (SoC) for mobile devices, wireless networking, HDTV, DVD and Blu-ray. Our tightly-integrated, innovative chip designs help manufacturers optimize supply chains, reduce the development time of new products, and extend a competitive edge in crowded markets. Through MediaTek Labs, the company is also building a developer hub that will support device creation, application development, and services for the Internet of Things era. By building technologies that help connect individuals to the world around them, MediaTek is enabling people to expand their horizons and more easily achieve their goals. We believe anyone can achieve something amazing. And we believe they can do it every single day. We call this idea Everyday Genius and it drives everything we do. Visit mediatek.com for more information.