MediaTek is maintaining its goal of shipping 50 million 3G handset chips in 2012, and could potentially exceed the targeted number, according to the IC design house.

MediaTek revealed previously that shipments of its 3G handset chips will top 10 million units in the first quarter, up from the six million shipped in the fourth quarter of 2011. The firm added that the recently-announced MT6575 solution will help drive shipment growth through later quarters of this year.

The new MT6575 solution, designed for phones running Google's latest Ice Cream Sandwich OS, is currently being adopted by many of MediaTek's leading customers for their new models scheduled to hit market shelves during the first quarter of 2012, MediaTek said.

The previous-generation MT6573 solution is incorporated into Lenovo's A60-series smartphones, and sub-CNY1,000 (US$159) models from China Unicom, MediaTek indicated. Introduced in fourth-quarter 2011, the solution has been chosen by 10 companies, MediaTek said.

Unlike MT6573, MediaTek's new MT6575 will target higher end models priced at between CNY1,000-1,500, MediaTek noted.

Industry observers expect MediaTek's overall smartphone-chip shipments will likely reach almost 70 million units in 2012, buoyed by strong orders from China's second-tier handset brands and white-box companies.