MediaTek teases Kompanio 1200 for Chromebooks, but it’s still not ready

On the second day of its MediaTek Executive Summit today, the company held a brief session on its PC and Chromebook efforts. It was one of the few sessions that didn’t have any actual product launches, but there was some insight into what the firm is up to. One thing it did was tease the MediaTek Kompanio 1200 chipset, which is aimed at high-end Chromebooks.

The Kompanio 1200 was first announced a year ago as the MT8195, and while the also announced MT8192 (now called the Kompanio 820) was coming in Q2, MT8195 was only said to be coming at a later date. While many expected that later date to be in 2021, that’s unfortunately not going to be the case. We’re now expecting it in 2022, which is a shame, because the chipset seems pretty interesting.

It’s a chipset built on a 6nm process using Cortex-A78 that’s aimed at the premium Chromebook segment, something that we’ve not seen from an ARM vendor before. Most ARM-powered Chromebooks are budget devices, with Intel still dominating the premium tier.

And when MediaTek says that this is aimed at the premium tier, it’s talking about Chromebooks that cost over $400. The plan is that the Kompanio 1200 will compete with an Intel Core i3, but it’s still going to provide new value propositions that Intel can’t, such as better battery life in new form factors.

MediaTek also teased a future processor that’s going to take on the flagship space, so rather than competing with a Core i3, it’s competing more with a Core i7. Based on the company’s naming scheme, this might be called the Kompanio 2000, but the firm has a bit to go before it gets there. Basically, it’s working its way up through the market.

In the meantime, we’re going to see the Kompanio 1200 launch in Chromebooks beginning in 2022. It’s possible that that could happen as early as CES, which takes place in January.

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