vivo teases IQOO brand: Is it a sub-brand or a new family of phones?

Sub-brands are all the rage these days, as manufacturers deliver new brands for various reasons. Now, it looks like Vivo is the latest company to tease a sub-brand, called IQOO.

MySmartPrice spotted a newly created IQOO Weibo account today, complete with vivo’s account sharing the brand’s first post. The new brand also asked Weibo users if they know how to pronounce the name (I’d assume it’s “IQ”).

Now, a social media interaction isn’t quite enough to prove the brand belongs to vivo. But a look at IQOO.com reveals a spartan website with a brief look at vivo’s company history.

Additionally, MySmartPrice looked up domain ownership, finding that it was indeed registered to vivo (you can find the WhoIs listing here).

We also spotted a line at the bottom of the website, noting that the site is the copyright of vivo. This line confirms the Chinese manufacturer’s involvement once more.

We still don’t know much about IQOO though, such as whether it’s a proper sub-brand like Honor and OnePlus, or if it’s merely a new phone range that still bears the vivo name.

Nevertheless, many sub-brands seem to be targeting the affordable flagship or mid-range segments of the market. We wouldn’t be surprised if IQOO takes this approach if it is indeed a sub-brand, but GSMArena reckons it could be a brand for gaming smartphones.

What would you like to see from vivo’s IQOO brand? Let us know in the comments!

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