DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Counterpoint Research, a global industry analysis firm has named OPPO the fastest growing smartphone brand in the premium segment globally in 2018. The astonishing 863% growth helped the company take 6% market share in the category.*
There were many factors behind this staggering growth rate, including the entry into several markets as well as new carrier partners. In the last year, OPPO has undertaken an aggressive expansion plan that included significant investments in the Middle East. The company began operations in Saudi Arabia for the first time and opened its second regional hub for the Middle East within the UAE. As a crucial growth market for OPPO and part of its global expansion strategy, the company also recently launched its new product series Reno in the UAE- the first international market to introduce the series outside of China. During the Reno Series unveil, OPPO also announced a new “OPPO MEA 5G Landing Project” with leading regional carriers Etisalat and Zain.
As of last year, OPPO started to adjust its product line in the region by offering mid to high-end products. The highlight of the year for the company, and many in the smartphone industry, was the amazing OPPO Find X. Launched in Paris’sstunning Louvre Museum, the Find X captured the imagination with its Panoramic Arc Screen and delightful pop camera, not forgetting its acclaimed sleek design.
In addition to the Find X, also notable is the success of OPPO’s R Series, including highly successful OPPO R17 Pro (RX17 Pro) smartphones launched in late 2018. The stunning gradient designs and ‘Ultra Night Mode’ camera proved hugely popular to OPPO fans as well as those new to the brand.
Speaking of markets, driven by strong market positions in China, OPPO’s newly launched countries have contributed to the outstanding result. Apart from the Middle East, these included the entry into European markets such as France, Spain, Italy, and The Netherlands. All in all, this increased OPPO’s total number of markets above 40 for the first time. Reinforcing these new market entries, OPPO announced several new carrier relationships, including Telefonica in Spainand Orange in France, as well as partnerships with leading retailers that all enhance the marketing and service concerning OPPO smartphones.
Looking ahead, Counterpoint estimate that the premium smartphone segment will continue to grow in double digits while going forward, while the next growth cycle in the premium segment will be driven by the emergence of commercially available 5G smartphones. This bodes well for OPPO as it is set to further strengthen its product portfolio with the brand new OPPO Reno Series.
OPPO Reno introduces new flagship features like 10x Hybrid Zoom, Snapdragon 855, Pivot Rising Structure, as well as VOOC 3.0 Flash Charging and more. Additionally, an OPPO Reno 5G variant, recently announced in Switzerland, will be the company’s first 5G smartphone.
About OPPO
OPPO is a leading global smartphone brand, dedicated to providing products infused with art and innovative technology. Based on the brand elements of young, trend-setting and beauty, OPPO brings consumers a delighted experience of digital life.
For the last 10 years, OPPO has been focusing on manufacturing camera phones, while innovating mobile photography technology breakthroughs. OPPO started the era of Selfie beautification, and was the first brand to launch smartphones with 5MP and 16MP front cameras. OPPO was also the first brand to introduce the motorized rotating camera, the Ultra HD feature and the 5x Dual Camera Zoom technology. OPPO’s Selfie Expert F series launched in 2016 drove a Selfie trend in the smartphone industry.
In 2017, OPPO was ranked as the number 4 smartphone brand globally, according to IDC. Today OPPO’s business covers 40 countries and regions, and has 6 research centers worldwide, providing excellent smartphone photography experience to more and more young people around the world.
About OPPO MEA
In 2015, OPPO entered the Egyptian market. In 2016, OPPO set up its Middle East & Africa Sales Center in Cairo. The markets OPPO has entered in the Middle East and Africa include: Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kenya and Nigeria. OPPO set up its factory in Algeria in 2017, which made OPPO the first Chinese brand setting up factory in North Africa. Now, the factory goes into production.
Based on the insights of local consumers in each country, OPPO MEA has started the progress of localization. And the localization includes all the perspectives towards each market – product localization, to further meet the core needs of users; marketing localization, to better communicate with local young customers; and team localization, to know our local consumers further and provide better service to them.
Within the last year, OPPO has started to adjust its product line in the Middle East region specifically. This has included the launch of its flagship OPPO Find X smartphone and the introduction of the OPPO R Series. OPPO will continue to evolve its local product line to offer more premium series to young consumers in the region.
(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/876521/OPPO_Reno_Ocean_Green.jpg)
(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/876522/OPPO_Reno_Launch_Event.jpg)
