vivo seems to be doubling down on its commitment to delivering the best imaging on mobile devices. The company only recently signed an agreement with ZEISS to co-develop camera technologies for mobile. Now, it is looking to spread its wings into creating imaging processors. Vivo announced its first foray – the Imaging Chip V1 – last week in Shenzen, China.

The Imaging Chip V1 is the result of over two year’s of research and development by over 300 personnel. vivo is viewing the Imaging Chip V1 as its first step towards pushing the image processing envelope forward. The company will be focusing on four strategic tracks to achieve its ambitions; image system, operating system, industrial design and performance. While the announcement comes in the midst of a chip shortage, vivo’s Executive Vice-President and COO, Hu Baishan, remains confident that vivo is able to meet its own needs and demands, ruling out collaborations at this time.

The announcement of the Imaging Chip comes as the latest in a series of collaborations and announcements from vivo as it looks to cement itself as a leader in mobile imaging technologies. That said, the company hasn’t revealed any details of the capabilities of the chip. However, if rumours are to be believed, the upcoming X70 series of smartphones will be the first to have the Imaging Chip V1. We won’t have to wait very long as the X70 series is expected to launch in October.