Realme leaves China, wants to focus on the rest of the world. It essentially swapped markets with OnePlus

Realme is withdrawing from the Chinese market. The brand announced this on the very day its sister company OnePlus confirmed its exit from Europe and the United States – effectively, the two brands from the same house have swapped markets.

What exactly did Realme announce?

The news was published on Thursday by the brand’s founder, Xu Qi, better known as Chase Xu, in an open letter to fans on the Chinese social network Weibo. According to him, after repeated consideration, the company will press the pause button on the Chinese market and invest the freed-up resources into international markets.

According to the statement, this will not affect phone owners in China. Sales and after-sales support, including warranty, will be taken over by the official network of its parent company, Oppo, and customer rights are to remain preserved.

Realme UI overlay to end

An unfortunate fate awaits the Realme UI overlay, which is set to completely cease. The brand’s phones will reportedly switch to Oppo’s ColorOS. Existing owners will download it via a regular update once the new system version is released.

OnePlus is following the same path, bidding farewell to OxygenOS. Thus, out of three separate overlays within the group, only one will remain – and it will be Oppo’s.

Why is Realme leaving China?

A specific reason was not mentioned in the letter, but the circumstances speak for themselves. Oppo is undergoing a restructuring of its entire phone business, and its share of the global market has reportedly fallen to approximately 10 percent, a two percentage point decrease year-on-year. Furthermore, at home in China, brands from the same stable compete for dwindling customers with Xiaomi, Honor, and Vivo.

Would you consider a Realme phone if it filled the void left by OnePlus?

Sources: 9to5Google, Smartprix, GizChina