Mobile imaging has become more competitive in recent years, however, a relatively new Oppo and Hasselblad partnership may have taken the competition to the very next level.
On the 23rd of March 2021, OnePlus announced a strategic 3-year partnership with Hasselblad, taking off with the launch of the OnePlus 9 series. The OnePlus 9 series was aimed at taking a big chunk of the mobile photography market with its camera abilities, and it looks very well like that succeeded.
Yet, one question remains unanswered; is Oppo simply copying what OnePlus has done, so it can make a name in the smartphone camera market?
A brief Oppo and OnePlus history
It may be a bit hasty to term the infant partnership with Hasselblad by Oppo and OnePlus as a copycat effort. This is because Oppo and OnePlus have history. Similar to our piece here about two VPN services merging and how common mergers like this are in tech, such is the case with Oppo and OnePlus. Both mobile companies share the same parent company, BBK Electronics. While BBK Electronics has other mobile companies under it, the bond shared between Oppo and OnePlus appears stronger than the rest.
In 2021, OnePlus announced a merger with Oppo. This merger did not necessarily make the two companies one, but it brought their R&D sectors together. As a result, two companies working hand in hand to bring innovations to the smartphone market – both hardware and software related – thereby sharing one mobile imaging partner was exciting to say the least.
Oppo and Hasselblad partnership: The big picture
Who is Hasselblad? Hasselblad a Swedish digital medium format camera and lens manufacturing company which indicates that this partnership is laser focused on improving the camera abilities of Oppo flagship devices.
Chief Product Officer Pete Lau said that this partnership is following the success of the Hasselblad integration into the OnePlus camera system. He adds that the partnership will give “more users around the world a chance to enjoy the legendary Hasselblad mobile imaging experience.”
Oppo is not a newcomer in the race for dominance in smartphone camera abilities, as they have developed an original imaging chip, the MariSilicon X. This makes the Oppo and Hasselblad partnership take Oppo a step further in the smartphone camera race.
As Oppo launches its first 2022 flagship device, there are expectations that the company will outdo itself on this device (from the Find X line-up) the same way it did with the Find X3 pro.