In August 2019 MediaTek, a Taiwanese processor manufacturer, announced a "Tightening" of competition also in China. We can trace this moment as the beginning, but in reality it happened even before, of the project of the different OEMs of build your own proprietary processor. A lot has been said about it with brands like Xiaomi with the Suege S1, or with Samsung with Exynos (which by the way also sells to third parties) but to date Oppo he didn't want to say anything about it. Sources suggest, however, that our beloved brand is developing a processor of its own that bears the name of Oppo m1. Is it time for this Chinese giant to break away from Qualcomm?
Oppo M1 is the name of the brand's first proprietary processor
Our sources claim that the Chinese brand over the past few years would absorbed several figures from MediaTek and Spreadtrum (Unisoc), so as to make his minds suitable for building his own Oppo processor. Unfortunately there is no confirmation from the company. It has been discovered that the November 20, 2019, Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications (full company name) has filed a trademark with name Oppo M1. This question was submitted to theEUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) and its description clearly shows that it is a new chip.
OPPO M1 trademark description: Chips [integrated circuits]; Semiconductor chips; Computer chips; Multiprocessor chips; Electronic chips for the manufacture of integrated circuits; biochips; Smartphones; Cell phones; Screens.
For the moment there are still many doubts, starting with the name: why is the letter "M" used? Maybe it's because it's a processor intended only for mobile devices? Whereas Realme he plans to take the field with new products, it is not excluded that in the future the brand plans Oppo processors for them too. In addition to this, does Oppo intend to sell the processor you developed to third parties, as is Samsung doing?
Another much more important doubt than the previous ones is: this Oppo M1 processor, it will be intended for a low, medium or high end? As we know the brand proposes different bands of smartphones and is currently choosing, based on the characteristics and the price, the most suitable chipsets from the Qualcomm catalog. When the Oppo processor is really official, will it be mounted on high end devices or not? It is also possible that the same type of chipset will be integrated by all bands of devices and in this case it means that a differentiation is also foreseen.
It is said that the official announcement of this processor will be given on next year during theMWC 2020 in Barcelona in February. Other dates are also suggested: the company may choose to communicate the existence of its Oppo M1 during the Shanghai MWC in June, or al Semicon China, always in the same year but in March. The latter hypothesis is unlikely to occur because the company is not among the official participants to date.
Final consideration: the step that Oppo is deciding to take is certainly given by several factors. First of all the cost: it is clear that a product built "at home" costs much less than one purchased from third partiesespecially if it's Qualcomm. Secondly, the market needs one substantial differentiation and the chipset discourse also plays an important role. Nowadays almost all flagship mobile devices (Android) have a Snapdragon 845/855/855 Plus. Medium ones have a 730/710 and so on. With a view to market differentiation, Oppo has long seen us designing its own processor and this could be a point in its favor considering that users need products that are different from the crowd.
If you are curious to see further details, you can consult the official document.
