Beijing, Oct 20 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.
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.
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