MediaTek based Chromebooks to arrive near the end of 2015

Having released a selection of new SoCs for smartphones and tablets, MediaTek is now setting its sights on the laptop market. The company has confirmed that it is developing a new mobile chip for use in low-cost Chromebooks.

MediaTek will be aiming to sell its Chromebook processor to multiple existing manufacturers and will apparently be powering various next generation products. However, the company was also keen to point out that its market share would start out small. Worldwide Chromebook sales are expected to reach 7.3 million units in 2015, a 27 percent increase from 2014, according to Garnet Inc. Acer is currently the largest player in the market, so we’ll be eagerly watching to see if MediaTek can pick Acer up as a client.

The new, currently unnamed, chip is expected to arrive on the market by the end of 2015 or in early 2016, according to MediaTek President C.J. Hsieh. This move will put MediaTek in direct competition with Intel, which provides the processors for a number of existing Chomebook products.

MediaTek appears keen to go above and its current mobile products next year. The company is also developing a SoC for use in a 4K TV running Google’s Android TV service, a chip designed specifically for the wearables market, as well as a processor for home audio streaming.