Oppo is working on its own chips

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo is developing its own chips. In an internal memo, the manufacturer calls this the Mariana Plan. Oppo confirms it is working on chips, but says it could take a long time.

On Monday, cnBeta wrote that Oppo is working on its own chips with its Mariana Plan. The site relied on an internal memo from the manufacturer. The plan is said to be named after the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the ocean. That name should indicate how complicated it is to make your own chip.

At the end of last year, Oppo would have started setting up a division that should develop the hardware. Employees of OnePlus and Realme would also be involved. Just like Oppo, those brands belong to BBK. In December, Oppo announced that it would invest 50 billion yuan, or about 6.6 billion euros, in R&D over the next three years. The manufacturer did not specifically mention the development of chips at the time.

Oppo confirmed Tuesday to the Chinese site c114 that the company is working on its own chips. The manufacturer emphasizes that this is a long-term project and that in the short term nothing will change in the collaborations with other chip manufacturers.

Oppo currently uses socs from MediaTek and Qualcomm in its devices. Manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung and Huawei already make their own chips for their smartphones. Google already indicated in 2016 that it wanted to do the same.