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While Vivo and Oppo are wholly owned by BBK, OnePlus is technically a subsidiary of Oppo, but since BBK owns the parent company as well, we take it the folks at OnePlus are well familiar with the mother company. Not content with just three prolific smartphone-making divisions, BBK is about to launch a new brand by the cutesy name of imoo – targeted towards creating educational phones for children. Its expertise in manufacturing game consoles and toys ought to come in handy for this particular business venture!
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BBK's oldschool-looking logo. |
Perhaps a little more about the aforementioned companies under BBK's wing might be in order. As a DVD, Blu-Ray and audio player manufacturer, Oppo has been around for a long while, but it only entered the smartphone game in 2008 – basically when the strong iPhone sales showed everyone into technology where all the money is going... for the next eight years, anyway. Interestingly, it took Oppo all but five years to become China's second most profitable company and rank among the country's leading smartphone makers – the likes of ZTE, Huawei, Lenovo, and Xiaomi.
Vivo came about in 2009 but started selling phones later, in 2011. It's known for producing specs-intense handsets that incorporate cutting-edge Hi-Fi chips, high resolution screens, and a highly customized operating system - Funtouch OS, based on Android (duh!) Notably, Vivo operates an audio laboratory in the Shenzhen province, doing research on incorporating high fidelity audio in mobile products. Although most of its handsets hover around the $300 mark, which is 'premium' by Chinese market standards, the company sold over 45 million units in 2015 and achieved an over 150% sales growth.
