In a bid to gain control over core components and reduce its reliance on foreign semiconductor suppliers Qualcomm and MediaTek, smartphone brand OPPO is developing high-end mobile chips for its premium handsets, a media report said on Wednesday.
The world's fourth-largest smartphone maker by shipments plans to use its own mobile systems-on-a-chip (SoC) in phones due out in 2023 or 2024, depending on the speed of development, citing sources, Nikkei Asia reported.
OPPO thus joins a race of smartphone makers -- including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi -- that are developing their own processors.
Tech giant Google on Tuesday unveiled the Pixel 6, its first smartphone using its Tenor mobile processor.
In-house chip development
Developing key chips in-house could also enhance supply chain control and possibly soften widespread shortages and disruptions, the report said.
OPPO is looking to use the 3-nanometer chip production technology offered by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TMSC), the world's biggest contract chipmaker, sources said. This would make it part of a second wave of TSMC clients, following Apple and Intel, to use the cutting-edge tech.
Sources said this is a sign of OPPO's commitment to developing high-end mobile chips capable of competing with the globe's top semiconductor developers.
In-house designed processors have become a hallmark of the world's leading smartphone brands.
Apple began putting its A-series mobile processors in iPhones a decade ago. Huawei Technologies, once the world's largest smartphone maker, made its mark with its Kirin processor before a US clampdown on the company derailed its consumer electronics business.
(With inputs from IANS)
