Oppo wants to be a genuine alternative in ‘brand-conscious’ UK market

Oppo may not be as familiar to British consumers as Apple and Samsung, or even Huawei, but its status as the world’s fourth largest smartphone manufacturer demands respect. According to Gartner, the Chinese manufacturer has a global market share of 10.2%, boosted by an astonishing growth rate of 42.4%

Like its compatriots Vivo and Xiaomi, Oppo has traditionally been boosted by strong demand in its homeland and other parts of Asia thanks to affordable, feature packed handsets. Western Europe was the logical next step in the pursuit of growth.

Oppo phones debuted in the UK back in January 2019, hoping to disrupt a market dominated by a handful of players. However, speaking to TechRadar Pro¸ the company’s UK and Ireland Managing Director Kevin Cho strategy is not to compete solely on value – it wants to offer technologies and design features that other vendors aren’t.

Device innovation

“The UK is one of the most brand conscious markets,” he explains. “For most new entrants it’s a question of delivering value or specifications. For us, as a brand, value for money is not the only way [to succeed]. We feel we differentiate as we operate in the intersection between technology and beauty. We don’t see the need to compromise.

“it’s about being a viable alternative in a market that has not been disrupted traditionally by other brands. We’ve made great strides in penetrating the market by bringing different options and new technologies.

“All of our competitors [innovate] but we believe in delivering features that actually matter to people’s lives.”

Cho extols the virtues of Oppo’s recent handsets, citing their unibody and curved design characteristics, and claims technological features like fast charging, low battery life and immersive visual experiences are something that only it can offer.

The launch of 5G is also an opportunity. Although Samsung made sure that it was an option for early adopters, the late arrival of a compatible iPhone and Huawei’s well documented struggles meant there was a gap for another manufacturer. Oppo provided one of the launch devices for EE’s 5G network.

However, Cho does not yet see 5G as a key driver of sales. He sees it as a natural development that will become more important as operators roll out their services and new use cases emerge.

“There has been buzz about 5G [in the industry] for the past two or three years but we’ve now almost started to reach the tipping point where we’re going to have pervasiveness.,” he says, citing the inevitable consequences of the pandemic on 5G deployment and adoption. “For the first time, the handset penetration is ahead of network rollout. As soon as the operators catch up then the use cases will be increasingly relevant.”

Business expansion

Devices are just one part of the equation – marketing and business operations are just as important. Oppo took the learnings and best practices acquired from expansions into when…