Taiwan-based IC design house MediaTek and MStar Semiconductor and China-based fellow company Spreadtrum Communications are sharing the market demand for handset chips, according to China-based white-box vendors of handsets.

MediaTek, following victorious sales of its 3G chip MT6573 during the peak sales period in early October 2011, has launched 1GHz 3G chip MT6575 and received good market response, the sources pointed out. MediaTek's shipments of MT6575 are expected to peak prior to the 2012 Lunar New Year in late January, the sources indicated.

Spreadtrum has dominated the market segment of TD-SCDMA, China-developed 3G standard, chips, with shipments of TD-SCDMA chip SC8800G on the rise, the sources noted.

While MediaTek and Spreadtrum have shifted focus to 3G chip solutions, MStar has focused on marketing of 2.5/2.75G chips with many new products, the sources indicated. MStar's monthly shipments of 2.5/2.75G chips have climbed to 5.0 million units, more than triple the level in the first half of 2011, the sources pointed out.

Currently, MediaTek has a market share of 60% for 2.5/2.75G chips, while Spreadtrum and MStar have those of 25% and 10% respectively, the sources noted.