Oppo can no longer support the Chinese government's dream of becoming self-sufficient in the semiconductor sector. New reports say that the company has suddenly shut down its chip design business to the shock of its employees.
News about the smartphone maker establishing an in-house chip design team emerged in December 2022. Back then, rumors said the company hired thousands of engineers to work on its future chipsets. The company was aiming to release its first smartphone with a self-designed chip in 2024.
Oppo couldn't handle the mounting pressure of the phone market
According to the Chinese media, Oppo announced today that it is shutting down its chip design division called Zeku. The company said it was a “difficult decision” but one that had to be made due to “uncertainties in the global economy and smartphone market.”
Oppo's Zeku was a fabless chip designer, at least briefly. Had the company managed to finish designing a chip, the product could've been manufactured by Samsung Foundry or other semiconductor giants like TSMC.
Now that Oppo is no longer interested in making phone chips, Samsung Foundry may have lost a potential client. On the other hand, Samsung Exynos won the battle before it even began.
Recently, Oppo also showed signs of slowly retreating its smartphone business from Europe. The company may have left France for good, and other European countries might follow.
