Oppo shuts down MariSilicon custom chip unit. Will it force others too?
Oppo has shut down its chip design subsidiary called Zeku, as the semiconductor market goes through a heavy slump, the media reported on Friday. The Zeku unit was responsible for the manufacturing of Oppo’s MariSilicon chips, the first instance of which arrived in 2021.
According to the South China Morning Post, Oppo announced the move in a brief statement, calling it a “difficult decision” and blaming “uncertainties in the global economy and smartphone market”. Zeku employees received less than a day’s notice about the unit being shut down, the report claimed.
The origin of MariSilicon
The global technology brand set up Zeku in 2019 to design chips that could be used in its devices. The first product that came out was the MariSilicon X chip that was responsible for handling image processing-related tasks in Oppo’s 2021 flagship, Find X5. Oppo later launched the MariSilicon Y chip but it was aimed at Bluetooth audio devices. Oppo’s latest flagship phones, Find X6 and Find X6 Pro, too, use the MariSilicon X NPU to aid the main Snapdragon chipset.
Although it was not exactly a rival to Snapdragon, Dimensity, Exynos, or Tensor chipset, MariSilicon showed off Oppo’s capability to produce custom chips that can make a big difference in the performance of flagship phones. The chip came at a time when more and more OEMs shifted their focus to producing custom chips as a preemptive measure to minimise dependence on bigwigs like Qualcomm. Apple, too, was a part of this as it has continued pushing M-series chipsets across its product ranges.
Will Oppo’s decision force others?
Oppo’s decision to kill the MariSilicon-producing chip design unit Zeku may be a precursor to what the smartphone brands may be planning at large. Other smartphone makers, including Xiaomi, have also set up their own chip-design verticals. Although Xiaomi discontinued manufacturing its Surge S1 custom processor some years back, it has continued investing in the technology to make its flagship products better.
The economic slowdown has hampered smartphone shipments. According to a Canalys report released in January 2023, global smartphone shipments fell 18 percent to 296.9 million units in Q4 2022 as compared to the previous quarter. The annual sales in 2022, however, plummeted by 12 percent with a total smartphone shipment of fewer than 1.2 billion units. While Samsung and Apple shipped the most and second-most smartphone units in Q4, Oppo ranked fourth with a 10 percent share. Comparing Oppo’s shipments in Q4 with the previous year, the company saw a decline of about 16 percent. While there is no way to tell the figure Oppo’s market share represents the shipment of premium phones, it is likely quite low.
Low premium smartphone shipments could be one of the reasons why Oppo decided against continuing the MariSilicon chip unit. Other brands such as Xiaomi also suffered a dip in shipments in 2022. Customers’ decision to go ahead with the decision to buy iPhones and high-end Galaxy phones leaves little space for other Android OEMs.
Trouble for China-based companies
The move came as chip manufacturing has been severely affected in China by escalating US export restrictions targeting advanced semiconductors. “Out of 3,243 fabless chip firms in China last year, only 566 had sales above 100 million yuan ($14.4 million), according to Wei Shaojun, president of integrated circuit design at the China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA),” the report mentioned.
Global semiconductor revenue is projected to decline 11.2 percent to reach $532 billion in 2023, and the short-term outlook for the semiconductor market has deteriorated further. In 2022, the market totalled $599.6 billion, which was marginal growth of 0.2 per cent from 2021, according to the latest forecast from Gartner.
The PC, tablet and smartphone semiconductor markets are stagnating. The combined markets will represent 31 percent of semiconductor revenue in 2023 and total $167.6 billion.
— Written with inputs from IANS
The post Oppo shuts down MariSilicon custom chip unit. Will it force others too? appeared first on Techlusive.
Oppo has shut down its chip design subsidiary called Zeku, as the semiconductor market goes through a heavy slump, the media reported on Friday. The Zeku unit was responsible for the manufacturing of Oppo’s MariSilicon chips, the first instance of which arrived in 2021.
According to the South China Morning Post, Oppo announced the move in a brief statement, calling it a “difficult decision” and blaming “uncertainties in the global economy and smartphone market”. Zeku employees received less than a day’s notice about the unit being shut down, the report claimed.
The origin of MariSilicon
The global technology brand set up Zeku in 2019 to design chips that could be used in its devices. The first product that came out was the MariSilicon X chip that was responsible for handling image processing-related tasks in Oppo’s 2021 flagship, Find X5. Oppo later launched the MariSilicon Y chip but it was aimed at Bluetooth audio devices. Oppo’s latest flagship phones, Find X6 and Find X6 Pro, too, use the MariSilicon X NPU to aid the main Snapdragon chipset.
Although it was not exactly a rival to Snapdragon, Dimensity, Exynos, or Tensor chipset, MariSilicon showed off Oppo’s capability to produce custom chips that can make a big difference in the performance of flagship phones. The chip came at a time when more and more OEMs shifted their focus to producing custom chips as a preemptive measure to minimise dependence on bigwigs like Qualcomm. Apple, too, was a part of this as it has continued pushing M-series chipsets across its product ranges.
Will Oppo’s decision force others?
Oppo’s decision to kill the MariSilicon-producing chip design unit Zeku may be a precursor to what the smartphone brands may be planning at large. Other smartphone makers, including Xiaomi, have also set up their own chip-design verticals. Although Xiaomi discontinued manufacturing its Surge S1 custom processor some years back, it has continued investing in the technology to make its flagship products better.
The economic slowdown has hampered smartphone shipments. According to a Canalys report released in January 2023, global smartphone shipments fell 18 percent to 296.9 million units in Q4 2022 as compared to the previous quarter. The annual sales in 2022, however, plummeted by 12 percent with a total smartphone shipment of fewer than 1.2 billion units. While Samsung and Apple shipped the most and second-most smartphone units in Q4, Oppo ranked fourth with a 10 percent share. Comparing Oppo’s shipments in Q4 with the previous year, the company saw a decline of about 16 percent. While there is no way to tell the figure Oppo’s market share represents the shipment of premium phones, it is likely quite low.
Low premium smartphone shipments could be one of the reasons why Oppo decided against continuing the MariSilicon chip unit. Other brands such as Xiaomi also suffered a dip in shipments in 2022. Customers’ decision to go ahead with the decision to buy iPhones and high-end Galaxy phones leaves little space for other Android OEMs.
Trouble for China-based companies
The move came as chip manufacturing has been severely affected in China by escalating US export restrictions targeting advanced semiconductors. “Out of 3,243 fabless chip firms in China last year, only 566 had sales above 100 million yuan ($14.4 million), according to Wei Shaojun, president of integrated circuit design at the China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA),” the report mentioned.
Global semiconductor revenue is projected to decline 11.2 percent to reach $532 billion in 2023, and the short-term outlook for the semiconductor market has deteriorated further. In 2022, the market totalled $599.6 billion, which was marginal growth of 0.2 per cent from 2021, according to the latest forecast from Gartner.
The PC, tablet and smartphone semiconductor markets are stagnating. The combined markets will represent 31 percent of semiconductor revenue in 2023 and total $167.6 billion.
— Written with inputs from IANS
The post Oppo shuts down MariSilicon custom chip unit. Will it force others too? appeared first on Techlusive.
