Realme Becomes OPPO Sub Brand as New Strategy Promises Better Service and Faster Growth

The Chinese smartphone brand, Realme, is already said to be embarking on a fresh strategy as it gears up to begin functioning as a subsidiary brand under the umbrella of its parent company, OPPO. Various reports have confirmed that there has been a further integration of Realme within OPPO’s organizational structure, as it tries to eliminate redundancies, save costs, as the world smartphone industry faces dwindling profit margins.

Realme to Function as OPPO’s Sub-Brand

According to reports from Lei Feng Network, OPPO has branded this process as a ‘brand strategy update’ and not an acquisition or closing down of its independently operated businesses. Here, OPPO will still serve as its parent/primary brand, while Realme and OnePlus will work as subsidiary brands.

Realme is going to continue with its strategy of offering competitive prices, youthful promotions, and feature-rich smartphones, while OnePlus is going to target higher-end markets with more interest in performance-oriented devices. All three brands are going to enjoy common back-end resources such as logistics, R&D, and service infrastructure.

Leadership Structure and Internal Changes

Under the new setup, Realme founder and chief executive officer Sky Li will oversee sub-brands' strategy and alignment. The OnePlus brand keeps operational independence in China with existing leadership under Li Jie.

According to leaks, this consolidation of leadership will pave the way for quicker decision-making on component sourcing, chipset selection, and timelines of launches, which, until now, had been one of the strong points of Realme with its rapid product rollouts.

What about Upcoming Realme Phone Launches

One of the most prominent worries among the users concerned whether or not it would influence Realme’s future products. OPPO has clearly stated that there would be no influence on Realme’s future launches. It implies that devices that are currently in development would still come out on the scheduled dates.

In fact, reports suggest that Realme Neo 8 is also going to make its entry in China towards the end of this month with a performance-centric chipset and an OLED screen. According to industry experts, Realme GT series as well as Numbers series smartphones are also likely to follow an unchanged pricing pattern, specifically in the Indian market.

The most immediate difference, for customers at least and especially in India, would perhaps be better after-sales service. Realme will reportedly make full use of OPPO's nationwide after-service network, which is far larger and more developed.

This could also mean easier access to service centers, quicker repairs, and easier availability of spare parts. This move could improve brand trust for Realme manifold in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where service accessibility is a strong influencer in purchase decisions.

Why OPPO Is Making This Move Now

Realme was founded in 2018 as a spin-off of OPPO and gained popularity with its value for money smartphones. It further aggressively competed with smartphones from brands like Xiaomi, iQOO, and Samsung in budget and mid-budget categories.

Nevertheless, the overall global demand for smartphones has dwindled, and profit margins have contracted as well. According to analysts, OPPO’s move to fully integrate Realme reflects its efforts to prevent any competition within the company and enhance sustainability while meeting the requirements of different customers using different brand identities.

For Indian customers, there are not expected to be any changes regarding retail stores or e-platforms. Realme’s phones are expected to continue with their competitive pricing, as Realme aims to deliver top specifications with an aggression rate. Nothing has to worry about regarding cancellation, warranty, or changes in strategies for existing customers.

The one thing to keep an eye out for would be software updates. Realme could experience improved software optimization as it becomes more integrated with the OPPO ecosystem, as rumors imply. An improvement here could become a significant selling point for the manufacturer, given the growing importance of software updates to consumers in the Indian market.

Overall, the addition of Realme as an official sub-brand of OPPO is more of a consolidation move rather than a disruption. OPPO is looking to integrate its services while still maintaining a distinction between each of these brands. From a consumption point of view, it can lead to improved services, enhanced support, and finer offerings without compromising on the value-for-money proposition that Realme had been offering initially.