Another big smartphone maker may be planning custom chips

Meanwhile, Qualcomm's having a tough week

There's a new trend emerging from the lessons that smartphone companies have learned over the past few years. In an attempt to have greater control over every step of the phone-making process, they're looking to develop their own chips. Only a day after Google launched the Pixel 6 series with its new Tensor SoC, we're hearing that Oppo is also embarking on a similar journey.

A new report from Nikkei Asiasuggests that the fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer could produce its own high-end chips for its smartphone as early as 2023 or 2024. If that seems far away, it's because developing a chip is no walk in the park.

Oppo isn't actually fabricating its own chips, though, and will reportedly use TSMC's 3nm technology. We might expect to see some custom cores that can help with photography, security, and on-device ML.

By using its own custom-designed chips (like Apple, Samsung, and Google do), Oppo could exercise more control and reduce its reliance on leaders like Qualcomm and MediaTek, and the supply chain issues and shortages that go along with that.

If this report does pan out, it's likely that we'll see an impact of this on OnePlus and Realme products as well. Qualcomm sure can't be happy with this development.

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