Smartphone manufacturer Oppo wants to grow further in Europe and Latin America

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo is planning to expand its international presence in important key markets in Europe and Latin America. The focus is on premium devices, an area in which Oppo sees more growth potential. In addition, production capacities in countries other than China will be further expanded. However, the manufacturer's new cell phone models are currently not officially available in Germany due to patent disputes.

At the beginning of this year, Oppo and Nokia reached an agreement in a patent dispute, whereupon the Chinese manufacturer announced at the end of February that it would be bringing its smartphones back to Europe. However, there are further patent disputes, now with InterDigital, one of the most notorious patent exploiters in the USA. Another well-known Chinese manufacturer, Lenovo, only reached an agreement with InterDigital at the beginning of this month, allowing Motorola phones to be sold in Germany again.

Investments despite patent dispute

Oppo has not yet been able to settle its patent dispute with InterDigital, but still wants to continue investing in Europe in order to gain more ground, particularly in the premium segment. Billy Zhang, Head of Marketing and Sales for Oppo's overseas activities, explained this in an interview. "We are consistently investing in our products, our staff, our marketing and our customer relationships in Europe," he said. However, Oppo's German website currently shows "no product information" and states that "some of the products are not available in Germany, including Reno 8 Series, Find N2 Flip".

The series of flagship smartphones just unveiled in China under the name "Oppo Find X8" will also be launched in Europe, Zhang confirmed, according to a report by the South China Morning Post. Just last month, Oppo extended its sponsorship deal with the UEFA Champions League until 2027. "The European market is characterized by high prices and prestigious brands. So it is a high value market that we cannot avoid," said Zhang.

Oppo number 4 worldwide, but not in Europe

According to market researchers at IDC, Oppo recently ranked fourth in the global smartphone market with a 9 percent market share – behind Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi. In Europe, the market shares for the first three places look the same, but on our continent, Realme and Tecno claim fourth and fifth place respectively. Oppo can still catch up here as soon as the pending patent disputes are resolved.

Although the market situation in Europe is relatively stable, the demand for artificial intelligence functions in smartphones could bring about changes, according to Zhang. Oppo only announced this at the beginning of June this year. AI smartphones are therefore increasingly in demand. That is why Oppo wants to add AI functions to 50 million smartphones this year.

In addition to the increased efforts in Europe, Oppo is also focusing internationally on South America, particularly on the highly populated countries of Brazil and Mexico. The Chinese manufacturer already operates a factory in Brazil, as well as in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Egypt and Turkey. Oppo recently took second place in the Chinese smartphone market, but 60 percent of its products are supplied to international markets, according to Zhang.

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