Rumours of OPPO developing its own chipset has been circulating around since 2021. Now, an unofficial source on Weibo claims that the hardware has entered its tape-out phase; meaning to say that it is now ready to be manufactured.
The source, known as CellPhoneChipExpert, said OPPO’s own first-party SoC (software-on-chip) is built using a 4 nm process and features 5G network connectivity, which suggests that it could potentially be used to power mid to flagship level devices. Additionally, it is believed that the hardware will be manufactured by chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which is also widely known as TSMC.
The insider claims that details regarding its upcoming development were allegedly revealed during a foreign investment forum held in Hsinchu, a city in Taiwan where TSMC’s headquarters is based. CellPhoneChipExpert added that OPPO is aiming to launch its first-party 5G SoC sometime in 2024, likely together with a future mobile device.
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This latest information corroborates with an earlier report by Nikkei that was published back in 2021, which claimed that OPPO has been planning to feature its own chipset on first-party devices by 2023 or 2024. Following reports have also suggested that the Chinese smartphone manufacturer has invested more than CNY 10 billion (~RM 6.44 billion) to set up IC (integrated circuit) design centres across China, including in locations such as Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai.
Should this venture succeed, this would place OPPO alongside Apple, Samsung, Huawei and Google, making it the fifth smartphone manufacturer to have developed its own chipset. For now, the company has already introduced other first-party internal hardware, including the MariSilicon X NPU and MariSilicon Y connectivity chip. That being said, it wouldn’t be surprising if the brand would retain the MariSilicon name for its allegedly upcoming 5G-enabled mobile processor.
It remains to be seen which OPPO device will feature the first-party SoC, as there are plenty of candidates that could potentially fulfil this role. The first few that come to mind being the flagship Find series, and the mid-range Reno series.
(Source: MyFixGuide)
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