OnePlus and Oppo’s partnership has been a long-standing one at this point. From software to hardware, the companies have shared a lot and it seems like this partnership is going a step ahead making OnePlus a sub-brand of Oppo in every meaningful way. As a part of the new move, OnePlus has started integrating its services with Oppo meaning that Oppo Services will take over the after-sales service for OnePlus products, at least in China as of now.
OnePlus made the announcement in an event held on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of OnePlus. OnePlus and Oppo announced a new strategic partnership for the coming years which will see Oppo invest CNY 10 billion ($1.43 billion) in OnePlus over the period of next three years.
A new dual-brand strategy
The announcement consisted of a dual-brand strategy where OnePlus will act as the pioneer brand for flagship smartphones. Moreover, OnePlus products will have a zero net profit margin for Oppo. The latter is willing to do so to help maintain the best features and quality of its products at their respective price points.
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Now, OnePlus phones and products will be sold exclusively online in China. Oppo’s online store in China already has the latest OnePlus phones and accessories listed for sale. For its offline sales, however, OnePlus will have to rely on Oppo’s existing stores in its home country.
Based on this announcement, another one came in afterwards stating that OnePlus products will now be serviced at the Oppo’s service network in China instead of OnePlus’s own centers. OnePlus users will now be able to take advantage of nearly 1,000 Oppo authorized service experience centers across China for after-sales service for their products.
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These centers cover more than 90% of prefecture-level cities in the country. The integration of OnePlus and Oppo services comes after the announcement by OnePlus founder Liu Zuohu on December 17 that the two companies had officially become dual brands.
Some other changes that will be made as a part of this dual-brand strategy will include:
- The service official website of OnePlus will switch to that of the Oppo service official website.
- Online customer service for OnePlus will be switched to Oppo online customer service.
- “OnePlus Service” Weibo and other social media accounts will be suspended. Users can instead follow the “Oppo Service” Weibo, “Oppo Service” WeChat official account, and other accounts for related service inquiries.
- The “Oppo Service” applet will now have a dedicated OnePlus page to search for products from the brand. One can access it by clicking on the OnePlus icon, searching for it, and using self-service-related functions.