It looks like Oppo wants to have more control over the hardware powering its mobile devices.

The Chinese manufacturer has reportedly started working on its very own chipset, according to Nikkei Asia, which said it could land just in time for new phone releases in 2023 or 2024. Apparently, Oppo is planning to use a 3-nanometer chip manufacturing process with TSMC.

Previous job postings also suggest Oppo has also been hiring AI experts and chip developers from Qualcomm, Huawei, and MediaTek.

Add it all up, and Oppo clearly seems poised to become one of the many phone makers now investing in their own chipsets.

Apple, Huawei, Samsung, and Google - just to name a few - all have in-house designed system-on -a-chips (also called SoCs). Apple has the A-series, Huawei has Kirin, Samsung has Exynos, and Google recently presented the Tensor processor for Pixel 6.

So, it's no surprise to learn Oppo is considering one of its own.

Like those others before it, Oppo is likely attempting its own chips not only so it can create more powerful smartphones with more say than ever, but also to decrease its dependence on third-party semiconductor suppliers - like MediaTek and Qualcomm - which currently power Oppo devices.