It's The End Of The Road For OPPO's MariSilicon Custom Processors

It's The End Of The Road For OPPO's MariSilicon Custom Processors
OPPO smartphone © Example Alwal/Shutterstock OPPO smartphones

Chinese smartphone maker OPPO has become the latest technology company to fall victim to the global economic crisis. Less than two years after the company announced the MariSilicon X chip, its first in-house-developed chipset, OPPO is killing off the entire segment.

According to a report published by SMP (South China Morning Post), the decision to close Ziqu's chip development subsidiary came suddenly and came as a surprise to most employees, with some receiving less than a day's notice. The company hired new talent about a month ago, according to the company's LinkedIn posts.

OPPO confirmed this development in a statement sent to Android management, calling the decision a "difficult adjustment" necessary for "long-term growth." The statement also highlighted that the move comes amid "uncertainty in the global economy and the smartphone industry".

The decision to cancel the entire department dealing with domestic projectors is in line with OPO's (and China's) long-term goal of reducing dependence on the US. It is undeniable that the trade war with the US is escalating, chip design companies are having a hard time. Amazingly based in China. Although most of its operations are in China, Zeku has offices in other parts of the world, including the US and Japan.

OPPO Marisilicon Y chip © OPPO OPPO Marisilicon and chip

The first product developed by Zeku engineers is the MariSilicon X chip, which was officially announced in December 2021. Chipset: Used in Find X5 and Find (Neural Processing Unit) flagship phones. ) Smartphone and ISP (Image Signal Processor). This lets you take advantage of phone features like real-time raw image processing and AI-enabled night video in 4K resolution. Claiming performance of up to 18 trillion operations per second (max), the Marisilcion X is no problem.

A year after the MariSilicon X announcement, OPPO unveiled the MariSilicon Y chip at the company's Eno Day 2022 event. Up to 12 Mbps. As of this writing, OPPO appears to have removed all references to the MariSilicon Y chip from its global website.

OPPO's decision to shut down its semiconductor business comes at a time when the global smartphone industry is suffering due to the global economic slowdown. The slowdown has led to a reduction in the supply of smartphones from all major brands except Apple. According to analyst IDC's latest data, OPO shipments fell 22 percent.

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