According to TechCrunch , the decision comes as a surprise to those who believed Oppo was pushing ahead with its own chip development amid rising geopolitical tensions with the US threatening to cut off Chinese companies from key chip suppliers. Therefore, Oppo will have to return to relying on third-party partners in the near future.
Oppo's effort to develop its own chip has been shut down after about 2 years of operation.
Although Oppo was the fourth-largest smartphone vendor globally in the first quarter of 2023, research firm Canalys said the company's sales fell 8%. Apart from Apple, all five top smartphone makers saw declines in sales. Overall, the global smartphone market fell 13% in the first quarter of the year.
In a statement explaining its decision to cut its promised chip production team, Oppo said: "Due to uncertainties in the global economy and the smartphone industry, we have to make difficult adjustments for long-term development. Therefore, the company has decided to discontinue Zeku."
In December 2021, Zeku unveiled its first in-house chip, the MariSilicon X, a processor designed to boost photo and video performance through machine learning. Zeku also established a research facility in Palo Alto, California. Notably, according to the company’s LinkedIn profile, Zeku was still hiring for more than 100 positions as of last month. So Zeku’s demise comes as a surprise.
It’s unclear how the move will affect the more than 2,000 employees working at Zeku. The company has previously offered competitive salaries to attract talent from other established chip companies. Oppo has kept its plans for the group under wraps, saying only that “the company will streamline relevant matters and continue to provide excellent products and services to users around the world.”
Oppo’s move away from making its own chips signals another struggle among Chinese companies to gain control of the semiconductor supply chain. Huawei has lost access to advanced chips from the US due to sanctions, and its efforts to design its own high-end chips through HiSilicon have failed after the US cut off its access to major foundries. Huawei has had to abandon its low-cost Honor phone brand — a move seen as a way for the subsidiary to avoid sanctions that have decimated Huawei’s consumer business.
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