Chinese smartphone makers OPPO and Xiaomi are working on their in-house 5G smartphone chips, which could debut as early as late 2021 or early 2022. Both companies currently source chipsets from Qualcomm and MediaTek for their smartphones.
Xiaomi and OPPO Working on Sub-6GHz 5G Chips
The DigiTimes report claims that OPPO and Xiaomi are working on developing a sub-6GHz 5G chip in-house. They will be joined by Unisoc, a fabless semiconductor company, to compete against the likes of MediaTek and Qualcomm.
A Reuters report also details that OPPO is currently doing R&D for radio frequency (RF) and Bluetooth chips. It already develops the power management chips required for its flash chargers.
Other details on the chips being developed in-house by both companies remain unknown for now. Xiaomi recently launched the Mi Mix Fold, which uses its custom in-house developed Surge C1 image signal processor (ISP) for professional image processing. It took Xiaomi two years to develop the chip, with an investment of about $21 million.
The news of OPPO and Xiaomi working on their own 5G chips comes hot on the heels of reports that Google will be using its in-house GS101 chip on the Pixel 6 this year instead of a Qualcomm chip.
It is unclear if OPPO and Xiaomi are considering using their in-house chips for products outside of China or not due to various licensing issues.
All Android smartphone vendors rely on chips from Qualcomm or MediaTek for their smartphones. This is a cheaper alternative than developing their own chips in-house, which is usually a costly affair. However, there's always the risk of being cut off from the supply chain due to trade sanctions and other issues, which could greatly affect their business.
Xiaomi's Previous Custom Chip Failed to Impress
Xiaomi had previously developed and launched its Surge S1 chip with the Mi 5c in 2017, which failed to impress with its performance and efficiency. The company never got around to releasing another custom chip since then until it announced the Mi Mix Fold with its Surge C1 ISP.
Xiaomi and OPPO have fast-tracked their in-house chip development after looking at how Huawei's access to the global chip supply chain was cut off. The current semiconductor shortage is not helping things either. This has led to a hoard of Chinese companies to start working on developing their own chips, with the Chinese government also pouring in billions of dollars to boost the semiconductor industry's development.
