Oppo may be developing its own smartphone silicon

The recent announcement of Google’s shift to custom silicon with the Pixel 6 marks another major player in the smartphone world developing its own chips, but another smartphone manufacturer may be looking to build its own SoCs.

According to Nikkei, OPPO is turning in-house to develop its own smartphone processors. The company hopes to equip its 2023 or 2024 flagships with custom silicon. OPPO is shifting to custom-made chips to compete with other high-end smartphones without relying on external sources like Qualcomm or MediaTek.

Citing two sources familiar with the matter, Nikkei said that OPPO will use Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) 3 nm process for the processors. If the sources are to be believed, this would make OPPO one of the few tech companies in the order chips on this process. Considering that OPPO is the fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, this isn’t too surprising.

Several companies rely on in-house designs for the chips used in their devices. Apple has used custom A-series SoCs in the iPhone since the A4 debuted in the original iPad and iPhone 4 in 2010. Samsung has used Exynos processors, which it designs and manufactures, in several of its smartphones for years. Huawei and Google also design their own silicon.

What do you think of OPPO manufacturing its own smartphone silicon? Let us know in the comments.

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