A big announcement has been made among the three major brands under the BBK Electronics Group. OPPO has brought OnePlus and realme closer together internally. It is not a full merger, but the product development, marketing and some operations of the two brands have been brought under the same roof. And this news has been shared by the company itself.
How Realme and OnePlus Were Related to OPPO
Many may know that realme separated from OPPO in 2018 and started its journey as an independent brand. The aim at that time was to quickly capture the market in the budget and mid-range segments. OnePlus’ relationship with OPPO is even older – but since 2021 they have been working very closely, especially in R&D and technology sharing. Until now, all three brands largely operated with independent teams and strategies.
In recent years, the Chinese smartphone market has seen increased competition, rising supply chain costs and pressure from declining sales. In this situation, OPPO Group has made this decision to reduce costs and better utilize resources.
OnePlus and realme Under a New Sub-Series Division
On April 29, 2026, OPPO made an internal announcement. They have created a new “Sub-Series Business Division” or “Sub-Series Product Center”. Under this division, OnePlus and realme’s product development, domestic and overseas operations will be carried out together.
In this new structure:
- Li Jie (President of OnePlus China) is in charge of the new product center. He will report to OPPO founder Liu Zuohu.
- Wang Wei (previously Vice President of realme) will now serve as Deputy General Manager.
- realme CEO Li Bingzhong (Sky Li) will oversee the overall operation and marketing-service system of the sub-brand.
- realme’s R&D team has already returned to OPPO headquarters at the end of March.
As a result of this change, the two brands will no longer run completely separate product lines like before. But OnePlus and realme will still remain separate brands in the market. OnePlus will focus on premium and performance-focused phones, while realme will aim to bring good-spec phones for price-conscious buyers.
Why OPPO Took This Step: Key Objectives
The main objectives behind this restructuring are clear:
- Cost Reduction – Reduce duplication in R&D, supply chain, marketing, and after-sales service.
- Resource Sharing – Create products for both brands with the same team, so that faster and better products can be released.
- Reduce internal competition – Earlier, brands in the same group used to compete among themselves, which negatively affected sales.
- Become stronger in the global market – Work together to compete better.
It has been reported that this change will not result in any major changes in the product launch schedule.
What does this change mean for ordinary users?
If all goes well, OnePlus and realme phones could hit the market faster in the future. Resource sharing could lead to better software optimization, faster updates, and a bit more competitive pricing. Most importantly, the technology and component sharing between the two brands could lead to improved performance and feature consistency across phones. This means that ordinary buyers could get a better experience, but that’s just a possibility.
This means that this is a major strategic move for the OPPO Group. OnePlus and realme will still retain their own identities, but the back-end operations are likely to become more efficient. The success of this change will be seen in the product launches and sales figures in the coming months.
