After nearly eight years of operating as a standalone entity, Realme was officially reintegrated as a sub-brand of OPPO on January 7, 2026. While the brands maintain distinct identities for consumers, the move has triggered a massive backend consolidation of their Indian operations.
As of February 11, 2026, this “merger” has entered an aggressive phase of workforce rationalization and infrastructure sharing.
Key Details of the Reintegration
The strategy mirrors the earlier merger of OnePlus into OPPO, aimed at pooling R&D, supply chain, and after-sales resources to combat thinning margins in the competitive Indian market.
| Feature | Post-Merger Status (Feb 2026) |
| Corporate Status | Realme is now a formal sub-brand of OPPO. |
| Leadership | Founder Sky Li remains at the helm but under OPPO’s patronage. |
| Sales & Service | Being unified; many Realme staff asked to resign by April 30, 2026. |
| Brand Identity | Front-end marketing and logos remain separate. |
| R&D | Fully shared and centralized under the OPPO umbrella. |
Impact on the Indian Workforce
The consolidation has led to widespread layoffs as overlapping roles are eliminated.
- Targeted Teams: The first wave of job cuts has primarily hit offline sales, service-network teams, and support staff.
- Phased Exit: Reports indicate that many Realme India employees have been given an exit deadline of April 30, 2026, as OPPO’s existing field and service infrastructure takes precedence.
- Unified Service: In the coming months, Realme customers will likely visit OPPO service centers (over 5,000 locations) for repairs, as Realme’s independent service network is phased out.
Why the “Merger” is Happening Now
- Cost Rationalization: Running parallel organizations for marketing, logistics, and sales had become unsustainable. By consolidating, the group can negotiate better with suppliers and reduce administrative overhead.
- Regulatory Scrutiny: Reintegrating allows the brands to present a unified financial and legal front amid ongoing investigations into Chinese smartphone entities in India.
- Market Stagnation: With smartphone replacement cycles slowing in 2026, the parent group is prioritizing profitability over market share expansion.
What This Means for Consumers
For the average buyer, the changes will be mostly “behind the curtain”:
- Product Availability: Realme devices will continue to launch under their own name.
- Better Support: Access to OPPO’s much larger network of service centers is a significant win for Realme users in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
- Software: A deeper integration of ColorOS elements into Realme UI is expected, similar to the OxygenOS-ColorOS convergence.
Strategic Shift: The “Vivo Model”
Industry analysts note that OPPO is now moving toward the “Vivo-iQOO” model, where a performance-focused sub-brand (iQOO) operates entirely within the main company’s (Vivo) organizational structure, rather than as a “spin-off” with its own management and payroll.
