Realme makes SA power play

Smartphone brand Realme has been brought under the Oppo umbrella in South Africa, giving its local operation access to the larger brand’s management resources and after-sales network.

At the same time, it keeps the Realme name on its devices, as the brand gears up for its next South African release. The new Realme P4 Power takes its name from an unusually large battery, which makes it an appropriate statement of the brand’s shifting power base in this market.

Gadget has been informed that, as part of a global restructuring that came into effect in early 2026, Realme in South Africa has been reintegrated as a sub-brand under Oppo, alongside OnePlus.

The move is the latest consolidation of brands that grew out of the BBK Electronics stable. Realme began as an Oppo sub-brand in 2018 before becoming a separate operation later that year, while OnePlus was integrated more closely with Oppo in 2021. Realme returned to Oppo as a sub-brand in January 2026, followed in April by reports that Realme and OnePlus had been combined in a new “sub-product centre” covering their international and Chinese operations.

According to reports, product development would report through OnePlus founder and Oppo chief product officer Pete Lau, with marketing and after-sales services also being combined. The South African changes therefore form part of a substantial international restructuring aimed at reducing duplicated costs while keeping Oppo, Realme and OnePlus as separate names in the market.

Gadget was told: “This brings the brands closer together on the backend, strengthening shared after-sales infrastructure and resourcing, while Realme continues to operate as its own distinct product line, with its own brand identity and marketing.”

The arrangement clears up some of the uncertainty around the relationship between the two brands. Realme was founded in 2018 by Sky Li and has maintained a separate consumer identity, product range and sales operation. In South Africa, that separation has sometimes left Realme looking like a smaller challenger operating in the shadow of its better-established relation. The restructuring gives it deeper local support without discarding the value-led identity through which it has tried to win younger buyers.

The local operation is run by Sam Zhang, CEO of OPPO South Africa, who oversees both the OPPO and Realme businesses locally. Liam Faurie continues to lead marketing, or what Oppo calls Go-to-Market and Operations, for South Africa, working alongside Zhang to drive the brand’s local strategy.

The allocation of roles indicates that the integration extends beyond shared repair facilities or logistics.

That backing could give Realme a firmer shot at a South African market crowded by Samsung at the top and a pack of Chinese brands competing aggressively across the middle and lower price bands. A large battery provides a clear product hook, although the P4 Power is well beyond the entry-level segment commonly associated with a value brand.

The centrepiece is a 10,000mAh battery, almost double the capacity found in many mainstream smartphones. Realme claims up to three-and-a-half days of everyday use, 32 hours of continuous video streaming and 38 days on standby. Actual endurance will depend on network conditions, screen use and applications.

Reverse charging allows the handset to supply power to another device, effectively turning it into a phone and power bank in one. Realme says the battery has TÜV Rheinland certification and is engineered to retain its health for up to eight years. The wording refers to battery health, not a guarantee that every handset will deliver its original runtime after eight years.

The P4 Power is offered in orange, a colour Realme presents as a more affordable take on a finish seen on premium phones. The claim is playful, but the battery is the far stronger point of difference. South Africans who spend long periods away from a charger, or who use a phone as their main screen and communications device, can understand the benefit immediately.

Faurie says the P4 Power had been developed around changing expectations of smartphones: “South African users expect more from their smartphones than ever before. They want devices that seamlessly support the way they live, work, and create while delivering the quality and value they have come to expect from Realme. The P4 Power has been developed with these evolving expectations at its core, and we are excited to introduce it to the South African market.”

• The Realme P4 Power is available in South Africa for R15,999 cash or from R599 a month over 36 months.

* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, and author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge.