OPPO retires OxygenOS and realme UI, moves all three brands to a single global ColorOS
TL;DR
OPPO folds OnePlus and realme into a single global ColorOS stack, retiring OxygenOS and realme UI branding.
OPPO has folded OnePlus and realme's international operating systems into ColorOS, making it the group's single global Android stack. OxygenOS and ColorOS first announced a merger in July 2021, then pulled back in March 2022 to "shared code only." Four years later, there is no fallback.
The timeline: on January 7, 2026, realme officially returned to OPPO as a sub-brand. On April 1, realme joined OPPO's after-sales network. On April 29, OPPO's internal memo merged OnePlus and realme into a single "sub-series division" led by realme founder Li Bingzhong, with Xu Qi running marketing and Li Jie running product. On March 22, ColorOS 17 launched across all three brands with 130+ models covered, free upgrade for every SKU, full rollout by end of September — including OnePlus models overseas that had previously shipped OxygenOS.
Memory prices did most of the pushing. In Q1 2026, DRAM rose 50% QoQ and NAND rose 90% QoQ, with another ~20% expected in Q2. OnePlus has never crossed 10 million annual shipments; realme fell 8.62% in 2022. Two separate OS teams for two brands that could not print money became untenable. China's smartphone market has shrunk from 370M units in 2019 to 285M in 2025; Xiaomi diversified into cars and IoT, OPPO consolidated instead.
Overseas users feel it most. OnePlus 12 and later have shipped ColorOS in China for years, but kept the OxygenOS badge abroad. That badge is gone now. realme UI merging into ColorOS means one stack across India, Southeast Asia and Latin America — realme's three biggest markets, together worth 12 million units shipped globally in 2021.
If it works, one OS feeds three brands, halves overseas R&D, ships AI features to 130 models at once. If it doesn't, a decade of "clean, ad-free OxygenOS" goodwill leaves with the OxygenOS name.
via The Paper / The Paper — realme return / ColorOS / Time Weekly
The timeline: on January 7, 2026, realme officially returned to OPPO as a sub-brand. On April 1, realme joined OPPO's after-sales network. On April 29, OPPO's internal memo merged OnePlus and realme into a single "sub-series division" led by realme founder Li Bingzhong, with Xu Qi running marketing and Li Jie running product. On March 22, ColorOS 17 launched across all three brands with 130+ models covered, free upgrade for every SKU, full rollout by end of September — including OnePlus models overseas that had previously shipped OxygenOS.
Memory prices did most of the pushing. In Q1 2026, DRAM rose 50% QoQ and NAND rose 90% QoQ, with another ~20% expected in Q2. OnePlus has never crossed 10 million annual shipments; realme fell 8.62% in 2022. Two separate OS teams for two brands that could not print money became untenable. China's smartphone market has shrunk from 370M units in 2019 to 285M in 2025; Xiaomi diversified into cars and IoT, OPPO consolidated instead.
Overseas users feel it most. OnePlus 12 and later have shipped ColorOS in China for years, but kept the OxygenOS badge abroad. That badge is gone now. realme UI merging into ColorOS means one stack across India, Southeast Asia and Latin America — realme's three biggest markets, together worth 12 million units shipped globally in 2021.
If it works, one OS feeds three brands, halves overseas R&D, ships AI features to 130 models at once. If it doesn't, a decade of "clean, ad-free OxygenOS" goodwill leaves with the OxygenOS name.
via The Paper / The Paper — realme return / ColorOS / Time Weekly
