In February 2020, the Special Assistant to the CEO of OPPO published an internal article titled ‘Some Thoughts on Building Core Technologies.’ The article proposed three major strategic plans: software development, cloud computing, and a chip research and development program called the ‘Mariana Project.’
OPPO chose the term ‘Mariana’ because the Mariana Trench is known as the deepest trench in the world.OPPO uses this to describe how difficult it is to make a top-level chip. It is reported that the Mariana project is an independent project within OPPO, and its senior director of product planning is Jiang Bo.
According to Digital Chat Station, OPPO’s Mariana self-developed chip project has begun to show results, but it has not yet been applied to the core SoC field. The blogger also pointed out that the design of core SoC chips is a decades-long race, an apparent reference to Huawei HiSilicon.
Earlier reports stated that OPPO’s chip TMG (Technology Management Group) will ensure investment in self-developed chip technology. This department was established in October 2009 and is part of the group’s overall TMG system, responsible for coordinating internal and external resources and reviewing key projects.
In December 2019, at the OPPO Future Technology Conference, Vice President and Director of the Research Institute, Liu Chang, stated that OPPO already has chip-level capabilities. The previously rumored M1 chip, a coprocessor currently under development, may be used in future OPPO products.
It is reported that OPPO has applied to register the trademark OPPO M1 with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. The trademark description covers product categories such as ‘chips, semiconductor chips, computer chips, multi-processor chips, electronic chips for integrated circuit manufacturing, biochips, smartphones, mobile phones, and screens.’