Oppo has once again been linked with making its own system-on-chip for use in future smartphones and other devices. The Chinese manufacturer has already introduced a couple of in-house chips, in the form of its Marisilicon X image processor andMarisilicon Yequivalent for audio, but rumours have previously suggested that it’s also looking to build a complete 4nm mobile processing chipset.
Now it seems those plans are further along. A Mediatek executive reportedly told a foreign investment forum in Taiwan thatOppowants its own SoC “to be competitive”. The claim came from Weibo blogger Cell Phone Chip Expert (viaMyFixGuide), who also revealed that it will be built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. TSMC, as it is better known, also makes custom chips for the likes of Apple for its iPhones.
The blogger states that the Oppo silicon is already “taped out”, which means it has been designed fully and ready to go to the next step - to be manufactured. However, as suggested in previous “leaks”, the chipset is unlikely to see the light of day until next year at the earliest.
“Yesterday, MTK hinted at the Foreign Investment Forum that Oppo currently only has pure mobile phone processors, saying that mobile phones must be SoC to be competitive,” he wrote. “…Oppo’s 5G SoC will come out in 2024.”
Oppo announced its Marisilicon Y chip during its latestInno Day presentationin December last year.
The chip is dedicated to Bluetooth audio processing and can transmit up to 24-bit/192kHz lossless audio wirelessly. It was unveiled alongside a new version of the company’s augmented reality glasses, Oppo Air Glass 2, and an OHealth H1 health monitor for whole family use.
The annual Inno Day event debuts plenty of future tech ideas and projects the company is working on, so we might find out some official details on the new SoC at the next one later this year. It could then appear in Oppo (and OnePlus) devices throughout 2024.
