According to people familiar with the matter, MediaTek has entered Apple’s supply chain for headphones. Since Apple owns Beats and its headphone factories, the company has chosen MediaTek to manufacture some of the earphone components.
This is the first time that MediaTek has entered Apple’s supply chain, but it is unclear what components the Taiwanese manufacturer provides.
Industry watchers estimate that the first order will ship between February and March of this year. Even since Apple stopped including headphones in the iPhone’s retail box, the company has expanded its line of own-branded headphones and Beats.
Apple is estimated to ship around 200 million iPhones this year, most of them will need a pair of headphones and this is where the Beats wallet comes in.
Source (in Chinese)
