Rami Osman, the Director of Corporate Sales for Middle East and Africa at MediaTek, speaks to Channel Post, about the company’s participation at GITEX Technology Week 2016
Are you participating at GITEX Technology Week this year?
We are participating in GITEX Technology Week to talk about our chipsets and underlying technologies. This is our third year at the GITEX Technology Week and we are very happy with the value we have experienced every time we have participated at the show.
What are your plans for GITEX this year?
We will have our own presence in the GITEX Technology Week at Hall 2 E2-5, were we will demo some of our Smartphone multimedia technologies such as “BluLight Defender” to reduce harmful screen radiation and Shallow Depth of Field using our own high end ISP “Imagiq” to simulate DSLR experience. We also intend to showcase our LinkIT IoT development platform with one of partners, details will be announced on the first day of the event.
What is your theme going to be for GITEX Technology Week?
For GITEX Technology Week, our theme is going to be “Technologies that enhance and enrich everyone’s life”. Basically we have been known for bringing cutting edge smartphone, tablet and TV technologies to the hands of everyone, this year is no difference and we will present some of these Smartphone on our booth. You can think of Imagiq ISP as a MediaTek contribution that enables everyone to get near DSLR camera experience.
What technology and market trends have you seen this year on the Middle East market?
In recent years, we have witnessed a clear shift in consumer preference, as they have started moving towards bigger screen sizes for their smartphone and today majority of the smartphones equipped with 5-inches or higher screen sizes. The same goes with smartphone specifications, in past when 512MB RAM was considered acceptable but now it is no longer acceptable and users are seeking minimum 1GB+ RAM to cater for multitasking on their handhelds.
We see operators in the Middle East as some of the most advanced when it comes to investing and implementing new cellular technologies be it by implementing Carrier Aggregation Technology to enable higher download capacity for the users by increasing from 150 Mbps to over 300 Mbps to providing advanced LTE features like Voice over LTE (VoLTE), Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) and Video over LTE over IP (ViLTE) are becoming an essential requirement of the Mobile Network Operators for their customers to experience High Definition Voice Quality, significantly faster call set up time.
The Internet of Things (IoT) are also defining the way for intelligently connect devices and systems to leverage and exchange data between small devices and sensors in machines and objects in days to come. The migration into the next generation cellular technology, 5G, the envisioned market space of the 5G technology is driven by requirements to enhance the mobile broadband Smartphone, reaching a massive range of machine type communication and the need to provide and ultra-reliable low latency communications.
Will you be launching any new products or solutions at GITEX this year?
We will be showcasing some of our newest flagship SOC platforms (System on a Chip) such as Helio X25, Helio X20 and Helio P10 as well as our most efficient LTE Cat 4 and Cat 6 solutions MT6737 and MT6750 respectively. We will also introduce our WiFi/BT/GSM developments kits for IOT and wearables MT7688 and MT2502.
What sort of channel engagements have you planned for GITEX?
MediaTek is world leader in smartphone and tablet turnkey solutions that utilise our vast network of ODM partners. This year we have invited a number of these ODMs (Designers and Manufacturers) to attend GITEX and present their smartphone solutions for regional buyers, hence creating a dynamic market place much closer to the end consumer than China or Taiwan.
How does GITEX Technology Week fit into your overall regional strategies?
Our strategy for Middle East focuses on capitalizing the increased demand for affordable entry to high end smartphones. Prices are going down while features are going up and customer expects more and more every year for the same money. MediaTek understands that very well, we actually refer to this 80% market share opportunity as “super mid-tier” and Gitex provides us with the platform to meet everyone in the value chain from carriers and retail to the press and end consumer and to prove that we understand and fulfill their demand for affordable high technology.
