Oppo has confirmed that it will shut down its chip development business. According to the statement, Oppo’s Zeku chip manufacturing unit, which was based in Shanghai, China, will be closed due to uncertainty in the global economy and the smartphone industry. The Zeku unit is responsible for the development of Oppo’s MariSilicon series chips, which include the MariSilicon X ISP and the MariSilicon Y audio chip.
Oppo’s chip business was launched in 2019 and has developed internal co-processors, ISPs, modems, power management chips and audio chips. According to speculations, Oppo has invested more than 1.4 billion dollars in this business.
Recently, there were rumors that Oppo is planning to develop its own mobile chip for smartphones. These rumors say that OPPO’s proprietary chip is under development and will be introduced in 2023. According to these rumors, mass production of this 5G chip with TSMC’s 4nm lithography will begin in the third quarter of 2023.
It is not yet clear whether the shutdown of Oppo’s chip development business will affect the introduction of this mobile processor or not. Recently, a Chinese company called Hua announced the signing of a patent license agreement with Oppo, which includes patents for 5G communication protocols. In fact, Oppo is looking to use advanced 5G technologies in its future devices, and the company’s proprietary mobile chip will probably also use these technologies.
Now we have to see what this Chinese company has in mind and should we say goodbye to MariSilicon chips for the cameras of Oppo flagship phones?
