China's Oppo to stop chip design unit as smartphone sales sink

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has cited to shut down its chip design unit at Zeku, due to uncertainties in the global economy and the smartphone industry. Zeku unit’s products include the MariSilicon X chip, which is a neural processing unit (NPU) that improves images for video and photography taken on smartphones. In 2022, smartphone shipments fell 14%, and total unit shipments fell below 300 million for the first time in a decade.

"Due to the uncertainties in the global economy and the smartphone industry, we have to make difficult adjustments for long-term development," a company representative said. 

Though being the world's biggest smartphone market, China is struggling to recover from one of its worst ever slumps as cost-conscious consumers continue to shy away from big-ticket purchases even after the country's lifting of zero-COVID curbs. 

Oppo and its Chinese rivals such as Xiaomi set up in-house chip design units in pursuit of self-reliance after the U.S. crippled Huawei Technologies' smartphone division with sanctions that prevented it from sourcing key components.