MediaTek of Taiwan Joins Intel-led IOT Camp

MediaTek Inc. and Acer Inc. have recently announced joining the Internet of Things (IOT) alliance initiated by Intel. The Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC) competes against the Qualcomm-headed AllSeen Alliance, Google-led Tread Group, and Apple-dominated HomKit for global leadership in setting up industry standards for IOT.

OIC now has 30 to 40 members with the recent addition of the Taiwanese manufacturers, trailing  AllSee which has over 70 members.

Established July this year, OIC has members such as the firewall software developer McAfee Inc.,  PC maker Dell Inc., fabless chipmaker Broadcom Inc.,  software developer Wind River Systems Inc., and chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

OIC plans to set communication standards for IOT and ensure online linking of 212 billion things globally by 2020.

IOT stresses connecting all things  electronic on the Internet, including refrigerators, televisions, cooking appliances, air conditioners, smartphones, watches, and even vehicles, which can only be connected online by using the same communication protocol.

Research by market consultants Gartner and Taiwan's Industrial & Economic Knowledge Center (IEK) estimate the global IOT market generates US$328 billion in business opportunities, with 80% from application services and 9% from information-technology hardware industry.

With Taiwan recognized as a world leading supplier of IT hardware, industry executives suggest Taiwan's IT manufacturers to strengthen capability in application integration or fail to keep up with the rising trend.

IEK feels that joining international IOT alliances will help Taiwan's IT manufacturers enhance  application-integration capability, that it is logical for MediaTek to join the Intel-led camp for the alliance promotes WiFi and Bluetooth to link online, which are MediaTek's core wireless chips.

However, some industry executives believe none of the four competing IOT consortiums can solely set IOT protocol in the long-term without cooperation of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world's largest trade group of its kind. (KL)