OPPO decided close from one day to another ZEKUbe Division that develops SoCs and proprietary chips. The Chinese smartphone maker released a brief statement blaming it.the uncertainties of the global economy and the smartphone industry‘ and stressed that it was ‘Difficult Decision“. Zeku employees were only informed the day before.
It was the first to report about it South China tomorrow postconfirmed by Bloomberg, who explains that ZEKU was founded in 2019 and held around 200 patents in its Shanghai division. Thanks to ZEKU, the Chinese brand has started to create its own brand Imaging coprocessors and other componentsBut had not yet managed to introduce a proprietary SoC break away from traditional providers. For example, the Oppo Find N2 Flip is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9000 Plus, while the Find X6 Pro is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Tensions between the US and China that bar Chinese actors from accessing advanced Western technologies, but most importantly the Difficulties the smartphone industry is currently facingwhere it seems only Apple can compete in a period of sharp sales decline are issues to consider.
In addition, at the end of March, rumors about the departure of OPPO and its younger sister OnePlus circulated from some European markets, but these were soon denied.
Anyone who has been in the smartphone industry for some time knows that other manufacturers outside of Apple and Samsung also have difficulties making money. For this reason, in an attempt to differentiate itself in a market with always the same components, OPPO had taken the path of customized solutions, first with some targeted units such as Marisilicon X and Marisilicon Y and then with the aim of the central unit SoC.
However, they serve huge resources and a constant ability to innovate Making proprietary chip development a long-term profitable business and not just an expense: because if the innovation doesn’t make one device superior to another with a Qualcomm or MediaTek SoC, then the game isn’t worth the trouble .
