On may 12, OPPO announced the dissolution of the chip business that it had adhered to for four years. OPPO said that in the face of the uncertainty of the global economy and the mobile phone market, after careful consideration, the company decided to terminate the business of chip subsidiary Zheku. This is a difficult decision, we will properly handle related matters, and will continue to make products and continue to create value.

Why did this news cause quite a shock as soon as it came out?

The chip development of 1 and OPPO is still very good in the industry.

In 20 17, in the global mobile phone market, OPPO became the third enterprise to choose the main attack mobile phone chip research and development after Huawei, Hisilicon, Xiaomi and Guo Song. The company that OPPO develops chip business is called Zheku. This company released two chips, one was launched by 2 1, and the other was Mariana X. This team has nearly 3,000 people, many of whom are the backbone elites from Huawei, Hisilicon and Ziguang. Moreover, among the major mobile phone manufacturers, OPPO is definitely committed to self-developed chips.

The news is sudden.

As soon as the news of the shutdown came out, the industry expressed great shock and regret. Not long ago, OPPO was still recruiting executives, and the recruitment of fresh graduates was also in progress. According to the schedule, the fusion chip will start streaming in August, and it is expected to be carried on the high-end flagship model OPPO Find X7 released next year.

It is also reported that OPPO plans to OEM its 3 nm SoC chip developed by TSMC. If the research and development is successful, it will be carried on the flagship mobile phone launched in 2023 or 2024. No one expected this to happen at this time. Seeing that the fruit is about to be harvested, OPPO's "breakthrough" is really unprepared.

Why does OPPO quit without doing it?

1, chip development is too expensive.

In 20 18, OPPO's r&d expenditure was only 4 billion, but in 20 19, OPPO's r&d expenditure soared to 10 billion. Subsequently, OPPO also announced that it will invest 50 billion R&D expenditure in the next three years. At the same time, in order to attract more industry elites, OPPO offered a high salary and was even called "Huawei" for a time.

2. No money.

The continuous downturn in the mobile phone market in recent years has brought too much certainty to mobile phone manufacturers. All mobile phone manufacturers are destocking. After three years of epidemic, people have no money. Changing mobile phones is not everyone's pursuit. In the global mobile phone market, there was a double-digit decline in 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. In the past 20 years, the shipment of OPPO has dropped by more than 20% compared with 202 1.

3. Chip development is too difficult.

The difficulty of the chip lies not in the output, but in the technology. The chip should put hundreds of millions of semiconductor components in a space the size of a nail, and each component is in the order of nanometers. Someone once made a very vivid metaphor: for a chip with 7 nm and 5 nm accuracy, it is equivalent to building 50 or 60 floors on a hair.

Although, we can overtake through the demographic dividend curve in consumption and other fields, this is no problem; However, in the high-tech field, there is no chance of overtaking in corners at all, that is, we must keep our feet on the ground and catch up step by step. Only through long-term unremitting efforts can we have a chance.

4. There may be geopolitical reasons.

This is the most speculated in many industries. As I said above, the news came out unexpectedly. The West has been chasing and intercepting China's high technology and all kinds of destructive sanctions. What's more, Shen Yiren, former vice president of OPPO, posted on social platforms. Obviously, there is something in it, which makes it a bit confusing.

The problem that money can solve is actually not a big problem, but how much, how fast and how to solve it. Problems that money can't solve are often the real problems.

Seeing his high salary, seeing him gather talents, seeing the rise of his tall buildings, and seeing his end ... Anyway, this must be a well-thought-out decision of OPPO. OPPO has said that although this is a difficult decision, it will properly handle related matters. I think this is also a responsible statement, so I will support it.