Oppo reduced 20% of staff after merging OnePlus

In 2016, Oppo became the best-selling smartphone brand in China. However, the company is restructuring after over-hiring in recent years. The job cuts will affect key units, including a team that customizes Android to ColorOS, an IoT team that develops wearables like smartwatches and headsets, according to a source with financial news agency Bloomberg. .

An Oppo store in Shanghai, China. (Photo: Bloomberg)

From mid-2021, Oppo merged with smartphone brand OnePlus to combine resources and reduce costs, but this led to many redundant positions. Oppo and OnePlus are jointly owned by parent company BBK Electronics. Telephone research and development (R&D) and international sales are not affected by the cuts.

Oppo rose to become one of the biggest Chinese smartphone brands thanks to its collection of rural retailers and large batteries and memory. However, strong investments to expand the market from India to Southeast Asia and Europe have not achieved the expected results in the face of fierce competition from Xiaomi and Apple. They are also facing the decline of the Chinese retail industry due to Covid-19.

Oppo’s other areas also failed. According to estimates by research firm IDC, after a few years, Oppo’s smartwatch market share globally is less than 1%, while the headset market share is about 1.7%.

Tarun Pathak, research director of Counterpoint research firm, thinks Oppo has been too spread out. The cuts appear to be to save costs while changing strategy.

At its peak, Oppo heavily rewarded retailers for market share and had a headquarters in Shenzhen designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, with 20 floors and an art gallery.

According to IDC, in the second quarter, the number of Oppo smartphones shipped increased by 37%, ranking fourth in the world. As for OnePlus, it penetrated the US market more deeply than any other Chinese brand but also lost to Apple and Samsung in the high-end segment.