OnePlus announced plans to integrate more closely with its partner Oppo. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau, who worked for Oppo before co-founding OnePlus, said the company was at a "turning point" and "must adapt as a team and brand" if it wanted to continue with its 'Never Settle' strategy. While the OnePlus brand will remain independent, the companies will share resources more for product development and customer support.
OnePlus has relied on Oppo for manufacturing support since it started eight years ago, and both companies are part of the bigger BBK Electronics conglomerate. Last year Lau also started working more with Oppo on product strategy, he said.
Since then, OnePlus has integrated a number of its teams with Oppo "to better streamline our operations and capitalize on additional shared resources", Lau said in a post on the OnePlus users forum. "After seeing positive impact from those changes, we’ve decided to further integrate our organization with Oppo," he said.
The closer cooperation is expected to provide OnePlus with more resources for developing new products, Lau said. It should also improve efficiency, with for example faster software updates for existing customers.
The news follows the departure of OnePlus's other co-founder, Carl Pei, last year to found the company Nothing. It comes as OnePlus has expanded the price range of its portfolio with several new lower-end phones in the past year, while Oppo is increasingly targeting premium users and entering more European markets where OnePlus has traditionally found favour.
