Will OPPO and vivo, which have invested in chip companies, get involved in independent mobile phone chips?

Driven by industry giants such as Huawei, Samsung, and Apple, the concept and market popularity of mobile phone brands' independent chips continue to rise.

Recently, there are reports that OPPO and vivo have both entered the chip field. BBK's boss Duan Yongping and OPPO CEO Chen Mingyong have successively invested in a chip processor company, Xiongli Technology. Xiongli Technology's business includes designing and selling high-performance, low-power ultra-large-scale integrated circuit chips, IP and embedded system platforms in the fields of data networks and the Internet of Things.

Although judging from its current business and products, Xiongli Technology has not yet specifically entered the mobile phone SOC, this may not be impossible given market trends.

Why do we need independent chips?

Chips and screens are the two core elements of smartphones. Among them, chips undertake the functions of computing and storage, which to a certain extent determine the final performance of the mobile phone. In the view of Ding Technology, there are four possible reasons for domestic mobile phone brands to get involved in the field of independent chips: one is to get rid of external dependence; two is to obtain new marketing factors; three is to extend to the high-end market; four is to export products or technologies to obtain new profit models.

my country's chip development started late, but the demand is huge, and mobile phone chips have long relied on imports. Data shows that nearly 70% of the world's mobile phones are made in China, but less than 5% of them are equipped with "Chinese chips." The several "confrontations" between domestic mobile phone brands and Qualcomm have further demonstrated the lack of voice caused by external dependence. In the view of Ding Technology, the research and development of independent chips can allow mobile phone manufacturers to get rid of external dependence, get rid of the control of technological monopoly, and gain more autonomy in mass production time, price, supply, etc.

Self-developed chips are also beneficial to the marketing of mobile phones. Under the current innovation bottleneck of smartphones, "self-developed" has almost become the darling of the media and a new marketing tool. Any "breakthrough" or positioning of domestic manufacturers in the fields of chips, operating systems, etc. will often attract attention and high expectations. For example, although the process technology used by Xiaomi's self-developed chips is not advanced in comparison and its performance needs to be considered, it still received a lot of praise.

Except for Xiaomi, the independent chips of Samsung and Huawei are basically mainly used in their own flagship products. Ding Technology believes that independent chips represent the technical strength of enterprises, and therefore, it has become one of the driving forces for brands to enter the high-end market. Huawei has applied its own Kirin chips to the high-end P series and Mate series in recent years, and used it as one of its important selling points.

Once the technology matures, mobile phone manufacturers can not only take the initiative in the supply chain, but also expand their business upstream in the industry chain, thereby exporting technology or products and gaining new profit models. For example, Samsung has exported its chip manufacturing capabilities, and as for products, for domestic mobile phone brands, sometimes even "one chip is hard to come by."

What is the prospect of independent chips?

Currently, Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and others all have so-called "self-developed" chips. In terms of technology, the first three are relatively mature, but at present, only Samsung may be able to truly get rid of dependence and make profits from external parties.

Ding Technology noted that earlier this year, Xiaomi released its self-developed mobile phone processor, becoming the second mobile phone manufacturer in China to have its own chips. However, Xiaomi's self-developed chips may still be more conceptual than practical at present.

It uses the first generation of chips on the market using the 28nm process. Although it has achieved its own breakthrough, it is almost "outdated" technology. Even though the Pengpai S2, which was previously expected to be mass-produced in the third quarter of this year and launched together with the new Xiaomi phone in the fourth quarter, only uses TSMC's 16nm process and an eight-core five-mode design. Compared with the 10nm pursued by chip manufacturers, there is still a gap. After all, to make a good chip, there are many technical difficulties that need to be overcome. If you are not careful, it will be fatal. Lei Jun himself once said: "Making chips is a matter of life and death."

Ding Technology learned that even Huawei's HiSilicon Kirin took nearly ten years from its birth in 2004 to mature and be recognized by the market. Even if the process technology itself gradually matures, for any mobile phone brand, independent chips will be a "long-distance race".

Will OPPO and vivo get involved in independent chip development?

In the past two years, the growth rate of OPPO and vivo is obvious to all. At present, the smartphone shipments of the two companies have reached the top five in the world and the top three in China. It is not ruled out that the two will continue to make progress in core technology. After all, there have been reports that OPPO, vivo and others have established an OLED alliance and may be involved in the field of small-size panels. As for vivo, there are reports that it is planning 5G and building R&D centers around the world.

Compared with the screen aspect, where OPPO and vivo can seek cooperation with BOE, CSOT and others, it seems that OPPO and vivo really need to do it themselves in terms of chips. This is not only a need to get rid of dependence, but can also be one of the ways for O and Vivo to continue to move towards high-end.

However, at this stage, O and V still need more technical accumulation, and the research and development of chips is not only about the chips themselves, but also about their adaptation. In addition, after the profit stratification from layers of agents to offline promoters, and after a large number of celebrity endorsements and variety show sponsorships every year, whether the company still has funds for chip research and development remains to be considered. If relying on Xiongli Technology, this process seems to be faster, but the label of "independent chip" may be difficult to label.

At this stage, it is not just O and V. If other manufacturers are involved in independent chips, I am afraid that the concept is greater than the reality. According to Ding Technology's speculation, the reason why O and V have not released any news about their own mobile phone chips may be because they are caught in the above contradiction.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.