Phone companies merge, CEOs resign: major tipster says "Y'all are not ready for it"

There's more to the ongoing phone industry changes than just the iPhone 18 Pro Max or the Galaxy S27 getting pricier.

The RAMpocalypse – the ongoing period of abysmally expensive memory chips and electronics components – might alter the very way major phone makers operate.

"Y'all are not ready for it"

There's a new X post by popular and reputable tipster Yogesh Brar who has just said that significant changes are expected.

Per his information, Realme India's CEO has just resigned, while Realme and OnePlus are being merged.

Brar says that Realme shuts down in China, but global markets are "unaffected", so Realme fans outside China should be fine.

What's more, Brar says that OnePlus would be only active in India and China, which is definitely a big shift. In Europe, OnePlus is really popular – as an anecdotal evidence, many non-tech geeks around me have absolutely heard of OnePlus (which can't be said of the Oppo brand, which is a mystery to most of them).

Speaking of Oppo, the company behind the amazing Oppo Find X9 Ultra is rumored to be making "big changes" across markets.

Big shifts ahead

Rumors that OnePlus could disappear appear to have been exaggerated, but the brand may be headed for a major internal shake-up. We told you how OnePlus and Realme are preparing to merge parts of their operations, a move that would bring the two smartphone makers even closer together.

The report was based on information from well-known tipster Digital Chat Station and it claims that the companies will combine their global and Chinese operations under a new "sub-product center". Marketing and customer service teams are also expected to be unified.

Realme founder Li Bingzhong would oversee the combined business division, while OnePlus China president Li Jie would lead product development and report directly to OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau.

The broader consolidation

If these reports turn out to be accurate, consumers could be witnessing the beginning of a broader consolidation phase in the phone industry. Rising memory and component costs are putting pressure on manufacturers and combining teams, markets and product portfolios may be one way to preserve profitability.

For end users, the impact may be subtle at first. Existing phones will continue to work, software support won't disappear overnight. But fewer independent players also means less competition, which often translates into higher prices and fewer distinct choices.

And if Oppo itself is preparing major changes, as rumored, the implications could stretch far beyond one or two brands. The smartphone landscape has already become more concentrated over the last decade.

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