Vivo smartphones on display Credit: Patcharaporn Puttipon 636, Shutterstock
You may have heard about the popularity of Chinese smartphone brands like Vivo and Oppo, but are you familiar with the name “BBK Electronics?”
Duan Yongping, the company’s secretive billionaire founder, is sometimes referred to as the “godfather” of China’s smartphone industry and is, in one way or another, behind the mobile phone brands Vivo, Oppo, OnePlus and Realme. Together, these brands sold more than 250 million mobile handsets last year — more than Apple, Huawei or Xiaomi. Only Samsung, the global leader, sells more smartphones.
BBK ad from the early 2000s Credit: BBK promotional materials
Duan got his start in the early 1990s producing a cheap competitor to a Nintendo gaming console, and in 1995, he started BBK, which sold a range of electronics products, including DVD and MP3 players.
In 1999, BBK was restructured into three separate companies, run by his protegees: Chen Mingyong, Huang Yihe Miao and Shen Wei, two of whom later est
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
At first glance, the recent raid on Capvision, a Shanghai consultancy, looks similar to the raids on foreign firms Mintz Group and Bain & Company. But there are reasons to separate Beijing's crackdown on Capvision. For starters, Capvision is Chinese and its shareholders and investors include a network of remarkably high profile and state-connected individuals and companies.
