China's phone giant Oppo disbands chip design unit as shipment slumps:
Chinese smartphone giant Oppo is disbanding its young chip design unit Zeku as weak global demand forces major handset manufacturers to cut costs and restrategize.
The decision comes as a surprise to those who believe the phone maker is bolstering its in-house chip development as rising geopolitical tensions with the U.S. threatens to cut Chinese firms off key suppliers. In the foreseeable future, Oppo will have to revert back to relying on third-party chip partners.
[...] Oppo explained its decision to cut its once-promising chip team in a statement issued today: "Due to the uncertainties in the global economy and the smartphone industry, we have to make difficult adjustments for long-term development. Therefore, the company has decided to cease the operation of Zeku."
In December 2021, Zeku revealed its first self-developed chipset, MariSilicon X, a neural processing unit designed to boost photo and video performance through machine learning, following Apple's path to bring chip design in-house. Zeku also set up a research base in Palo Alto.
[...] Oppo's retreat from chips signals another struggle from Chinese phone companies to strengthen their control over the semiconductor supply chain. Huawei lost access to advanced chips from the U.S. due to Trump-era sanctions, and its attempt to design its own high-end chips through HiSilicon floundered after the U.S. cut it off major foundries. The company resorted to spinning out its budget handset brand Honor, a move seen as a way to help the subsidiary circumvent the sanctions that have decimated Huawei's consumer business.
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Chinese Chip Industry to Focus on Perfecting Mature Nodes: Report:
Severe constraints on the development of the Chinese chip industry caused by strict export control rules that block People's Republic chipmakers from obtaining advanced wafer fab equipment (WFE) has triggered local specialists to rethink the nation's semiconductor strategy. While it is obvious that China will have to replace tools made abroad to make leading-edge chips in the long term, for now the country's chipmakers will have to focus on perfecting their mature nodes to stay competitive, reports DigiTimes.
Meanwhile, between 2022 and 2026, Jiwei Research estimates there will be 25 new 300-mm fabs in China, with a total capacity of over 1.6 million wafer starts per month. This could significantly increase China's chip production capacity, which will increase China's total 300-mm capacity to 2.76 million WSPM by 2026.
Without access to advanced equipment, all of these fabs will have to focus on 20nm – 90nm-class technologies, but it will better be able to rely on domestic suppliers. Consequently, companies within the Chinese semiconductor supply chain, spanning from raw materials, machinery, and electronic design automation (EDA), are reportedly shifting their growth strategies, prioritizing mature processes over advanced ones. For instance, Naura has declared that it will prioritize shipments of tools for trailing processes utilized by Chinese chipmakers.
Furthermore, a provider of photoresist materials has disclosed that the current industry emphasis is on mature processes, in the hope of spurring significant advancements in mature wafer production techniques. As of now, the development of cutting-edge processes is not at the forefront of Tianxia's semiconductor industry's agenda.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 20, @02:47PM
Is it because people stopped buying these phones once they realised that their personal information is being sent to china?