Today, it can be difficult to distinguish between one smartphone manufacturer and another, especially if they are part of the same group; in these cases, it is common to see phones that are identical in every way except the name. In an attempt to stand out from the rest, Oppo decided in 2021 that it needed to offer something “more” for its phones, and it found it with its own chips.
This is how Zeku was born, a subsidiary that in just a few years has managed to surprise with the variety of designs it has developed; its chips found their way into top Oppo models, and its most notable project was undoubtedly MariSilicon X, a chip designed to improve photography, an increasingly vital aspect of smartphones.
This beautiful story suddenly ended. Today, Oppo confirmed the immediate shutdown of Zeku in an extremely short announcement that does not go into the circumstances that led to the decision.
The MariSilicon X was Oppo’s most ambitious project
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According to South China Morning Post, even Oppo’s own employees were surprised by an announcement they weren’t expecting, as they were probably already designing the chips that future Oppo models would pack. Some discovered the situation when they were warned on Thursday that they could not enter the offices the following day, even if they had left personal effects. On Friday morning, Oppo released the stark announcement, ending a four-year adventure.
Goodbye MariSilicon
The only justification Oppo has given for the “difficult decision” to shut down Zeku is the “uncertainties in the global economy and the smartphone market”, something that sounds very familiar to us. Remember that smartphone sales have fallen in recent quarters, a consequence of both the global economic situation and a general weariness of users, who no longer feel the need to change their mobile every year.
MariSilicones have also been used to improve audio quality
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To this news must be added the rumors that Oppo could close its doors in Europe, affecting the Spanish market, if its legal fight against Nokia continues against it. It seems strange to say that Oppo is in crisis, when it comes to the fourth manufacturer in the sector, but what is clear is that all is not as pretty as it seems.
[MariSilicon Y, el nuevo chip de audio de OPPO promete los mejores resultados de la gama alta]
For consumers, it’s a blow, because we suddenly lose what could have been one of the best alternatives to the big manufacturers. Oppo phones will continue to hit the market, of course, but they will no longer come with the MariSilicon chips that improve the quality of our photos and will depend on solutions from other companies, probably Qualcomm. It’s always bad news when the industry relies too much on one manufacturer, even though for now Qualcomm has put the batteries in its latest Snapdragon models.
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