Sub-brands were once a popular way for China's leading smartphone manufacturers to attract new demographics without jeopardizing their brand reputation. The two-pronged strategy meant that core smartphone businesses focused on the high-end market while their sub-brands had their eyes on the mid-range segment. However, as the global economic crisis took hold, some of these brands like Oppo and OnePlus began consolidating resources in order to cut costs. Vivo could follow suit, with the rumored reintegration of the iQOO brand into its core business.
According to Chinese publication 36KR, Vivo is incorporating iQOO back into its operations as part of a broader cost-cutting measure (via GSMArena). The move means that iQOO's branding and online business will become a part of Vivo's identity again, with future iQOO models presumably joining the latter's smartphone lineups. The sub-brand's independent stores and counters will also supposedly be shut down as part of the consolidation.
Vivo and iQOO shared resources in the past before the latter was spun off as an independent company, such as a research and development team and a supply chain. They did, however, have distinct planning methods, e-commerce operations, and media strategies.
Xiaomi followed the same strategy, resulting in the 2020 spin-off of its former sub-brand, Poco. Huawei and Oppo also cemented their respective spots among the leading Android phone brands using this tactic. Oppo, a sibling of Vivo under the BBK family, introduced the Realme brand in 2018 as a spin-off meant to challenge Xiaomi’s growing footprint in India's burgeoning smartphone market with Redmi.
Regarding Vivo's reintegration with iQOO, a former Vivo employee apparently gave the following statement to 36KR (machine-translated): "The internal bosses are still struggling. What is the positioning of iQOO in the future and how to integrate the team are still uncertain."
Android Police has also reached out to Vivo for comment, but we have yet to receive a response. We'll update this post once we hear back.
It is unclear whether some iQOO employees will be let go as part of the restructuring or if the full team will continue to work for Vivo.