Realme Reportedly Cutting Jobs in India: Oppo’s Consolidation Explained

Oppo is reportedly conducting widespread layoffs in Realme's India division. As per the report, the Chinese brand is absorbing Realme India's sales and support teams in an effort to consolidate the divisions and lower the overall business costs. The reported development comes just a month after Realme agreed to rejoin Oppo as its sub-brand. At the time, it was said that the former wanted to pool resources and reduce overhead expenses, specifically around research and development. The planned layoffs will reportedly expand to other business divisions in India in the coming months.

Realme India Reportedly Facing Major Layoffs

According to a Moneycontrol report, Oppo is currently in the process of absorbing several Realme divisions. Citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter, the publication claimed that the parent organisation is focusing on cutting jobs in sales and support teams in the initial phase. However, the company is said to be expanding the layoff efforts to other Realme India divisions eventually.

The report claimed that Oppo has already consolidated Realme's business operations in China. The company is reportedly taking a more cautious approach in India due to the ongoing legal issues Oppo is involved with. It is said that Realme's sales teams have been told to start working as per the revised structure. Additionally, the impacted employees have reportedly been told to resign by April 30. It is unclear which other Realme teams will see the pink slip in the coming days.

Realme Layoffs Not a Shocker

While the development is tragic, especially for the impacted individuals, it is not surprising. Last month, when the two companies announced the re-merger, one of the stated reasons was said to be pooling resources and reducing overhead expenses. What that means is that both companies want to bring together their business divisions and resources and create a more efficient system to bring new smartphones to the market.

With Oppo integrating all the different business verticals of Realme across sales, support, product, R&D, and more, there was bound to be a surplus of workforce. The recent layoffs highlight that the company is now trying to work on a structure that is efficient and optimised. Based on previous reports, Realme India's research teams could also see broad restructuring efforts next.

According to the publication, a similar consolidation move was made by Oppo in 2021, when several OnePlus India employees were handed the pink slip. The move was reportedly triggered after Oppo and OnePlus decided to bring together their operations for greater efficiency.

Realme's Reunion With Oppo

Realme's re-merger with Oppo is one of the most unique moves in the smartphone industry. It was originally founded by Sky Li in May 2018 and operated alongside Oppo as part of BBK Electronics. However, just two months later, Li resigned from his position to establish the brand as an independent entity. Since then, the company has operated outside of Oppo's influence and even expanded outside of China into several key markets, including India.

In January, multiple reports claimed that Realme was going back to Oppo's fold to reduce business costs. As part of the deal, it was said that both Realme and OnePlus would operate side-by-side, under the control of Oppo. Reports also claimed that Li would be given the charge of both sub-brands. However, there has not been any official confirmation on the same.