Oppo is shuttering its Zeku chip development division and letting go of its internal System-on-Chip (SoC) design aspirations, according to reports. The news comes as worldwide smartphone sales continue to decline and the US carries on with chip export restrictions. Bloomberg reports Oppo’s Zeku division was set up in 2019 and carried about 200 patents in its Shanghai division. Like Apple, Oppo started making its own co-processors for imaging and other smartphone components but had not successfully launched its own SoC to get away from relying on other companies for the most significant chip in the device. Oppo’s most recent releases include the Oppo Find N2 Flip, which is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 Plus chip, while its Find X6 Pro uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Chinese phone manufacturers, including Oppo, would have to get licenses to use chips built by US-based companies. The move could cut off Chinese companies from suppliers like ASML – the world’s only producer of lithography machines needed to develop newer chips.