Oppo Begins Realme Integration in India

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has begun integrating Realme’s India operations into its own organisational structure, triggering layoffs across sales and support teams. The move follows a global strategy to reposition Realme as a sub-brand under Oppo, mirroring earlier consolidation with OnePlus and signalling deeper cost optimisation across India’s fiercely competitive smartphone market.

Oppo Begins Absorbing Realme’s India Operations

Chinese handset maker Oppo has initiated the process of absorbing Realme’s India operations, starting with job cuts across sales and support teams. The development marks a significant consolidation move in India’s crowded smartphone market, where rising costs and slowing growth are forcing brands to streamline operations.

The restructuring is part of a broader global decision to reposition Realme as a sub-brand under Oppo, aimed at consolidating resources and reducing operational costs through a unified structure.

Global Strategy Driving India Restructuring

“In China, this has already been done. In India, it’s a bit different right now because there are ongoing legal issues involving Oppo. So, they can’t move as aggressively here but this will happen gradually and across functions,” a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

While the integration has already been completed in China, India’s regulatory and legal landscape is slowing the pace. However, sources indicate that the transition has begun and will unfold steadily across departments.

Layoffs Begin Across Sales and Service Networks

The merger process is already underway on the ground. According to sources cited by Moneycontrol, Realme’s sales teams have been instructed to transition into the revised organisational structure.

Employees in sales and service network teams have been asked to resign by April 30, sources added. Oppo’s existing marketing and service infrastructure is expected to absorb a substantial portion of the combined operations going forward.

More departments are likely to be impacted in the coming months as the streamlining exercise gathers pace.

Realme’s Full-Circle Journey Under Oppo

Realme was originally launched in 2018 as a sub-brand of Oppo before being spun off as an independent brand later that year. Its first smartphone, the Realme 1, prominently carried the “By Oppo” branding.

Eight years later, the brand now appears to be returning to its original position under the Oppo umbrella, as the parent company looks to tighten control and optimise costs across its portfolio.

Neither Oppo nor Realme responded to queries from Moneycontrol regarding the restructuring.

The 2021 Blueprint: OnePlus–Oppo Integration

India has seen a similar consolidation before. In 2021, OnePlus moved closer to Oppo, leading to the integration of research and development and several operational functions.

The China-side restructuring was largely driven by cost optimisation, according to a second source.

“For BBK, both brands operate under the same parent. The logic is simple — if the parent is one, why run fully separate operations? Instead of spinning off sub-brands as independent companies, keep them within the same umbrella structure, align operations and ideally the P&L. That’s how operational costs get optimised,” the source said.

With the global smartphone market under pressure, maintaining parallel structures under the same parent no longer makes financial sense, the source added. “Ultimately, the primary reason is cost.”

BBK’s Legacy and Industry-Wide Consolidation

BBK Electronics Corporation, which deregistered in 2023, was often referred to as the “godfather” of Chinese smartphone multinationals. Its portfolio included Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, and Realme.

Even after deregistration, the operational DNA of BBK continues to shape how these brands align resources, supply chains, and market strategies.

Backend Optimisation, Front-End Brand Separation

According to multiple industry sources, the consolidation in India will focus largely on backend and support functions—particularly employee-heavy areas such as after-sales services and offline distribution.

Research and development operations are already significantly integrated between Oppo and Realme.

“Brand identities and front-end marketing will remaain separate, but backend resources will be shared for optimisation. The structure is expected to mirror the Vivo model. iQOO, for instance, was never spun off as a separate entity and continues to operate within Vivo,” the source said.

Rising Costs and Competitive Pressure Driving the Move

Industry analysts view Oppo’s reintegration of Realme as a strategic response to intensifying competition and escalating costs across the smartphone value chain.

These pressures include rising component prices—particularly memory—along with mounting expenses related to R&D, supply chains, and after-sales infrastructure.

“Similarly, we anticipate that brands will increasingly move towards sub-brand strategies and optimise resources, especially those that have achieved global scale with over 50 million shipments,” Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research, told Moneycontrol.

Shift From Aggressive Expansion to Disciplined Growth

According to Pathak, the smartphone industry is undergoing a strategic reset.

The focus is shifting away from aggressive market expansion towards disciplined operations, reduced product overlap, and targeted investments in priority markets.

“Consequently, we expect these brands to adopt a more conservative stance towards non-core markets over the next one to two years,” Pathak added.