OPPO is shutting down Zeku, the chip design unit known for the MariSilicon chips.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer made this “difficult decision,” per a brief statement the company released to the press on Friday, citing uncertainties in the smartphone market as well as the worldwide economy.
The shutdown has sparked concerns regarding the future of the company’s in-house chip development. It comes as a surprise, given that in February, a MediaTek executive revealed plans of OPPO to launch its own SoC by 2024.
Zeku employees themselves were taken aback by the news. They received an abrupt notice on Thursday to no longer report to the office the next day. Notably, Zeku had been actively looking for applicants only two weeks prior to fill positions, such as chip architecture engineers and software coders.
OPPO’s foray into chip design started in 2019 with billions invested in research and development. After recruiting engineers and top executives from competing system-on-a-chip manufacturers, OPPO eventually unveiled the MariSilicon X image processor in December 2021. The chip was first adopted by phones in the Find X series, such as the Find X5 Pro and Find X6 Pro.
Source: SCMP
This article, OPPO shuts down its chip design unit that made MariSilicon, was originally published at NoypiGeeks | Philippines Technology News, Reviews and How to’s.