'Multibrand' Strategy Works... China's Oppo Rises to Global 2nd Place Including Subsidiaries

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO and its subsidiaries Realme and OnePlus have collectively secured the second-largest market share in the global smartphone market, surpassing Apple and Xiaomi. Analysts attribute this success to their so-called 'multi-brand' strategy targeting everything from premium to budget models.

India's largest English daily, Business Standard (BS), reported on the 25th (local time), citing a report released by market research firm Counterpoint Research. According to the report, the combined market share of OPPO and its subsidiaries Realme and OnePlus in the global smartphone market in May was 16%. This ranks them second after Samsung Electronics. Apple followed with 15%, and China's Xiaomi took fourth place with 14%.

Senior analyst Jen Park of Counterpoint Research explained, "In April and May, the combined global smartphone shipments of OPPO and its subsidiaries surpassed Apple and Xiaomi, rising to the second position in the market. This is the result of a multi-brand strategy combining premium OnePlus and more accessible Realme."

As part of its global strategy, OPPO currently focuses mainly on offline and mid-to-low-end smartphone markets. Realme, a 100% subsidiary of OPPO, releases online and relatively more affordable budget smartphones. OnePlus, a smartphone manufacturer under China's BBK Electronics, which recently officially announced a merger with OPPO, offers premium smartphones.

Counterpoint Research evaluated that each brand has independently increased its brand awareness in its respective domain, and this strategy has shown good results so far.