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OnePlus founder Pete Lau takes on new role heading product planning at Oppo’s holding company

  • Lau will serve as senior vice-president of OPlus, and will be responsible for product planning and experience at the company including for Oppo
  • He will continue to hold his role as CEO of OnePlus, and reportedly may focus on achieving synergies between Oppo, OnePlus and RealMe

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Pete Lau began his career as an engineer at Oppo in 1998 and left in 2013 to establish OnePlus. Photo: Reuters
Pete Lau, the chief executive officer and founder of premium Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus, has taken on a new role at his former employer Oppo’s parent company Oujia Holdings, known internationally as OPlus.
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“Pete Lau will serve as senior vice-president of OPlus, and will be responsible for product planning and experience at the company,” Oppo and OnePlus said in identical statements. “His role as founder and CEO of OnePlus will not change.”

OPlus is the majority shareholder of both Oppo and OnePlus, as well as budget Oppo spin-off brand Realme.

The OnePlus founder’s new role will put him in direct control of Oppo’s product line, and he may focus on achieving synergies between Oppo, OnePlus and Realme, according to Chinese news site thepaper.cn, citing unnamed sources from Oppo.

Lau began his career as an engineer at Oppo in 1998 and was vice-president by 2013, when he left to establish OnePlus – which targets the higher-end market and has won a loyal tech following for the design of its phones. Oppo later became a major stakeholder in OnePlus.

The management change comes at a time when Oppo’s growth strategy appears to be increasingly mirroring that of OnePlus’. While OnePlus is better-known overseas than in mainland China, Oppo has a strong presence in lower-tier Chinese cities and developing markets such as Southeast Asia.
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