Recently, it was reported that it was learned from the supply chain that Vivo’s first self-developed chip from the “blue factory” will be launched soon, with the internal code name “Yueying”. The functional details of this chip are not yet clear. It may be an ISP chip specially designed to improve imaging capabilities, and it is expected to be installed on its new X70 series for the first time.
“Blue Factory” has indeed begun to intervene in SoC design as early as a year and a half ago, which was confirmed by Vivo Executive Vice President Hu Baishan in an interview with the media in September 2019. At that time, Vivo launched a recruitment plan for a large number of chip people, announcing positions such as analog circuit design engineers, SoC verification engineers, and chip digital circuit design engineers, and proposed that it plans to build a chip team of 300 to 500 people in the future.
Hu Baishan said: "In order to better meet the needs of consumers, we chose to be deeply involved in the research and development process of upstream manufacturers. Based on this need, Vivo began to delve into the initial design stage of SoC chips. "Vivo's first step is to build defined chip capabilities, and whether it will continue to deepen depends on the situation.
In May 2020, the chip trademarks applied by Vivo: "vivo SOC" and "vivo chip" were exposed. The application dates of these two trademarks were both September 2019. Covered product categories include: central processing units, modems, computer chips, printed circuits, computer storage devices and other processor-related products.
For mobile phone manufacturers that focus on imaging capabilities, self-developed ISP chips are indispensable. On the one hand, they may improve their own technology, and on the other hand, they can also use this to explore imaging capabilities. In terms of self-developed ISP chips, the "blue and green brothers" have always been inseparable.
At the beginning of 2020, the "green factory" OPPO announced the self-developed chip "Mariana" plan. Project Mariana is a separate project within OPPO. Its senior director of product planning is Jiang Bo, and it is responsible for the chip TMG (Technical Committee) established in 2019 to ensure capital investment in self-developed chip technology.
On July 1 this year, OPPO affiliated company Dongguan Oppo Communication Technology Co., Ltd. underwent industrial and commercial changes, adding "design, development, and sales of semiconductors and components" to its business scope, which indicates that OPPO's core-making journey has officially been put on the agenda. Liu Bo, vice president of "green factory" OPPO, said in an interview that he does not rule out the possibility of self-developed chips. It is reported that the OPPO chip team currently has 1,000 people and will have a huge team of 3,000 people in the future.
A supply chain source recently said: "OPPO's first self-developed chip is a 6nm chip, manufactured by TSMC. It may be a minimalist version of SoC, or an image signal processor ISP chip. , and some IP technologies may cooperate with domestic communication chip manufacturer Aojie Technology (ASR).”
Currently, there are only three mobile phone manufacturers in the world that are truly capable of developing their own SoC chips: Huawei, Samsung and Apple. . Both the "blue and green brothers" have begun trying to manufacture chips, and they still need to continue their efforts in the future.