OPPO invests 10b yuan in OnePlus to develop dual-brand strategy
OPPO will operate with dual brands OPPO and OnePlus.
Chinese smartphone giant OPPO announced it is investing 10 billion yuan (US$1.43 billion) in OnePlus, as the company's sub-brand, to develop its dual-brand strategy.
Currently, major Chinese brands operate dual or multiple brands to target diversified market demands, analysts said.
In the next three years, OPPO will invest 10 billion yuan in OnePlus for technology, distribution and service support, covering 1,000 OPPO after-sales service outlets nationwide. OnePlus will focus on online channels.
"In today's consumer environment, users' preferences for purchasing are increasingly diversified. It is difficult for a single product or brand to meet different users' needs and preferences," according to Peter Liu, OnePlus' founder.
It's a trend for Chinese brands to develop second and even more sub-brands. They include OPPO and OnePlus, Vivo and iQOO, Xiaomi and Redmi, Huawei and Nova, and ZTE and Nubia.
User demands are turning more diversified in the domestic market. For example, social, photography and health-care functions are mainly sought by elderly or middle-aged groups while eSports, video and customized functions are favored by X Generation consumers. Therefore, segmented markets require brands to fine-tune their operations, said research firm IDC.
By the end of the third quarter, OPPO was the country's No. 3 smartphone brand behind Vivo and Honor, according to IDC.
Also on Monday, ZTE-owned Nubia released new Nubia Z50 models with optimized 35mm lenses for portrait photography.
Nubia has had a DNA for "mobile photography expert" for a decade, said Nubia president Ni Fei.
Nubia releases its new Z50 models with optimized portrait photography features on Monday.
