Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp., one of the biggest Chinese mobile phone makers operating out of Guangdong, China, is making a big push to expand in the Asia-Pacific (Apac) region and compete head-on with the leading global brands.
According to German market research firm Growth from Knowledge (GfK), the Apac region accounted for half of global smartphone sales in 2019 and would continue to maintain its growth momentum due to favorable demographics.
As a geographical market for Oppo, Apac includes countries in Southeast Asia plus Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In Southeast Asia alone, smartphone sales in the second quarter of 2019 reached 30.7 million units. It said that Oppo had the best quarter’s performance with a 49-percent year-on-year growth to 7.3 million units. Last year, more than 100 million smartphones were sold just in Apac.
Future Growth
Oppo is one of the Chinese smartphone brands that have made it big in the Philippines. It is now present in 40 countries. The company is part of BKK Electronics Corp., founded by Chinese billionaire Duan Yongping and also the makers of Vivo, OnePlus and Realmi smart phone brands.
According to Canalys, it is one of the very few survivors of the cheap smartphone era that started about 10 years ago. After its growth mainly in that segment, Oppo is stepping up by introducing what it calls cutting-edge smartphones that can compete with dominant brands like Samsung, Apple, LG and Huawei.
According to Alen Wu, Oppo vice president and president of global sales, in the upcoming years, Oppo is not only going to be in the smartphone industry.
Their focus is aiming on developing other technologies such as 5G, 6G, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and big data while also building core technologies for the hardware and software.
- To reengineer itself as an R&D-centric technology company employing its global resources to power the development of local markets where it operates in.
- To deliver a diverse portfolio of technological services. Expanding it’s brand name in the IoT field.
- Expansion in the IoT space for personal and home application scenarios, digital content creation and offering mobile internet services for more diversified users
- To become an all-around leading brand in the Apac Market.
- To strengthen operating capabilities backed by a series of supporting initiatives such as local recruitment, key channel building, operator customer services, product customization, co-branding and co-marketing.
Recently, Oppo opened its Asia-Pacific regional hub in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia last Dec 16, 2019. It became the center hub of operations on Apac.
It’s purpose is to be able to develop strategies more localized for the region. Also to uncover more opportunities and create more value. While the very idea of having this hub, was to allow Oppo to focus more on the needs of its clients and consumers.
Era of 5G
The emergence of the 5G wirless communication technology brings both new opportunities and new challenges to any kind of technology, especially the smartphone industry.
Oppo is prepared to take on the next step for the smart phone industry in the new era of 5G and taken plans to stabilize their foundation.
- Collaboration with carriers planning to commercialize their 5G operations in 2020.
- To apply 5G communication standard patents in more than 20 countries worldwide with more than 2,500 global patent applications completed.
- To enhance core partner relationships, by recruiting more talent with an international
- To strengthen localized operations. As the company believed that intelligent connectivity is the way to maintain customer loyalty.
- To provide a faster and improved user experience.
With the global commercial rollout of 5G and the continuous improvement of AI technology, Oppo said it believed that “Intelligent Connectivity,” rather than the “Internet of Things,” would truly bring about revolutionary user experiences.
As Oppo launched the “OPPO 5G Landing Project” in February 2019 in Barcelona in partnership with key global operator partners, releasing its Reno 10x Zoom 5G edition smartphone in Switzerland, United Kingdom, Australia and Italy successively.
For the Philippines, it is said that Globe Telecom is part of the project and to begin at the 3rd quarter of year 2020.
Also, Oppo and Malaysian operator Maxis jointly built a 5G network at the Kuala Lumpur event to present the revolutionary experiences powered by 5G network.
Challenge
Charles Tan, Oppo’s Apac marketing director, told the Inquirer that the company already has a market share of more than 20 percent in the region and was number 1 or 2 in many countries based on number of units sold.
The competition is now versus top global brands and the big challenge is how to increase market share beyond 20 percent, he said.
By focusing on technologies that would ensure connectivity of gadgets and services that are a step up from the $200-$300 range of smartphones where Oppo is a leading player in the region. The massive investment in R&D in the next three years is aimed at achieving this.
Oppo’s definitely stepping up into the industry. Not only becoming a lead brand for smart phones but also to upcoming new technological innovations in the new era of 5G.
Sources: business.inquirer.net–Raul Marcelo
Photo Sources: cnet.com, 2ndopinion.ph, engadget.com, techspot.com
