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 es