After months of leaks and rumors, Google finally unveiled its highly-anticipated Pixel 6 series yesterday. The latest Pixel phones are the first from the company to feature a custom chip, called Google Tensor. Google claims that the chip offers significant performance improvements over the one on the Pixel 5, and it also enables a wide array of AI and ML features on its latest flagships. Inspired by Google's decision to offer custom silicon on the Pixel 6 series, OPPO is now reportedly developing its own chips.

According to Nikkei Asia, OPPO has started working on high-end mobile chips for its premium smartphones. The company aims to gain more control over core components with its custom chipset and reduce reliance on other semiconductor manufacturers like Qualcomm and MediaTek.

While OPPO hasn't revealed any details about its in-development chips so far, two people familiar with the matter told Nikkie Asia that OPPO plans to bring its custom SoC to the market by 2023 or 2024. The report further reveals that OPPO is looking to use TSMC's 3nm manufacturing process for its custom chips. Along with the SoC, OPPO is also working on custom AI algorithms and ISPs for its smartphone cameras.

It's still a bit too early to say whether OPPO will manage to bring its custom SoCs to the market or not. Developing custom chipsets is an arduous task, so it might be a while before we hear anything official from the company. As of now, it hasn't confirmed this revelation. In a comment on the matter, OPPO only told Nikkie Asia that "Any R&D investment is to enhance product competitiveness and user experience."

It's worth noting that OPPO isn't the only Chinese OEM to develop custom SoCs. Huawei has offered custom HiSilicon Kirin chipsets on its devices for quite a while now. Xiaomi also joined the fray back in 2017, but it has switched focus to ISPs since then.