Chinese smartphone maker Oppo recently revealed a self-developed chip for smartphones. The chip is called MariSilicon X. It’s a neural processing unit (NPU) that improves images and videos taken on smartphones.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd will manufacture the chip. This technology will be placed under the company’s upcoming Fin X series of smartphones, which will launch in early 2022.
Oppo Is the Top Chinese Brand
At the moment, Oppo is the top smartphone brand in China. It accounts for 21% of the domestic market for Q4 2021.
Oppo is owned by BBK Electronics, which also owns the Vivo brand. Both companies are investing in the chip sector. Besides MariSilicon X, Oppo has also developed a power management chip for some of its charges.
Vivo has also announced it has developed an image signal processing chip (ISP) that will be used on its smartphones.
The need for these types of chips and this industry grew from the sanctions that the US imposed on Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. The sanctions have prevented the company from sourcing the key components for phone manufacturing.
The sanctions also wrecked the company’s smartphone and in-house chip division. Additionally, there are global shortages related to the COVID-19 crisis, which negatively affect the smartphone industry in general.