MediaTek lost its title as the most profitable integrated circuit designer in terms of earnings per share (EPS) in Taiwan in the first half of this year in the wake of slowing global demand for smartphone chips, according to statistics released on August 15. It is believed one of the reasons is that the company’s state-of-the-art, the industry's first true octa-core, 2.2GHz 64-bit mobile processor has been adapted by Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 2.

However, the company’s comments came after China’s Tsinghua Unigroup Chairperson Zhao Wei-guo cited a strong interest in acquiring MediaTek and in developing a comprehensive chip supply chain in China.

Meanwhile, in a saturated 3G market, global smartphone needs have shown signs of declining, although the momentum of the world’s 4G market has come to nothing to pick up, market analysts added.

Facing unfavorable circumstances, MediaTek suffered a 40 percent year-on-year decline in net profit in the first half of this year in the wake of a decline in smartphone chip shipments.

Meanwhile, If the government agreed to loosen investment regulations, Tsinghua Unigroup “would soon arrange a meeting with MediaTek Chairperson Tsai Ming-kai to discuss the mergers of MediaTek with Tsinghua Unigroup’s Spreadtrum Communications Co. and RDA Microelectronics Inc.,” Zhao expressed during an interview with the Chinese-language Commercial Times.

In response to the call for the ban to be lifted, Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng on November 2 said the government would conduct a comprehensive evaluation, including the possible impact on the island’s job market and technological competitiveness from loosening the regulations.

Last but not least, Acer Founder and Honorary Chairperson Stan Shih suggested that mergers and acquisitions are an unmistakable trend. Under proper percentage and regulations, he agreed with to relax the rules of investments by China-based firms in the local IC design industry.