OnePlus's founder Pete Lau joins Oppo's co-investor as SVP; To remain CEO of OnePlus

Pete Lau who started OnePlus to offer premium flagship smartphones at an affordable price has agreed to join Oppo once again in the capacity of a senior vice president and chief product experience officer at OPLUS. In this new profile, he will be responsible for the brand synergy between three closely related companies Oppo, OnePlus and Realme.

For those who’re unaware, OPLUS is a majority shareholder in all three companies i.e. Oppo, OnePlus and Realme. It wholly owns Oppo apart from a 74% stake in OnePlus and is a majority holder in Realme too.

Lau had worked with OPPO for over a decade before starting OnePlus with Carl Pei in 2013. Time and again both the founders have called OnePlus is an independent brand with Oppo as only a primary investor. However, closer ties between both the companies have appeared as both share the supply chain and manufacturing facilities.

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Similarly, even Realme, another offshoot from Oppo, that started a couple of years back and prefers calling itself an independent brand. However, like OnePlus even Realme is closely linked with Oppo and shares various resources with Oppo. This is probably the first time someone has officially taken the names of OnePlus, Oppo and Realme in the same sentence.

To add a twist to the tale, Oppo is a subsidiary of a Chinese conglomerate called BBK Electronics. And BBK also has another leg of subsidiary brands that have Vivo and its offshoot iQOO in it. Technically, BBK controls all 5 brands including Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, Realme and iQOO. 

Contradicting the popular theory, Lau claims that OPLUS and BBK are separate and are not connected in any way. With a lot of mystery shrouding around OPLUS’s existence, Lau’s claims only add to the immense confusion.

What happens to OnePlus?

According to a statement to Android Authority, OnePlus has clarified that “Pete remains committed to his role as CEO of OnePlus. At the same time, he has also taken on the role of SVP and chief product experience officer for OPLUS, contributing to product and planning development.”

With OnePlus announcing Nord and is rumoured to come up with another budget line of phones, the company may need its CEO un-distracted focus. Only time will tell how much effort the new role demands from Lau and if he can perform his OnePlus duties efficiently.

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