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Saf Malik
October 18, 2019
The bold prediction was made by CCS Insight during its Predictions event
Oppo is set to overtake Huawei as the number one Chinese smartphone manufacturer next year, according to analysts at CCS Insight.
The analyst firm made the ambitious prediction at its 2020 and Beyond predictions event in London.
So far this year, Huawei has shipped 54 million units, with Oppo on 29 million after launching its smartphones in Europe last year and in the UK at the start of 2019.
CCS Insight chief of research Ben Wood said the lack of Google services will mean a “hard sell” for Huawei, which was placed on the US Entity List in May – a move that requires companies to get specific approval from the US government to work with businesses in the country.
“In Western markets, Huawei is clearly under pressure,” said Wood. “Despite market share holding up well for now, it will be a different story this time next year if Huawei can’t find a resolution with the US.”
The vendor launched its Mate 30 series last month, but didn’t reveal a European or UK release date, with the smartphone missing Google services.
“The Mate 30 is an outstanding phone, but without Google it’s a really tough sell for Huawei and it’s difficult to see any operators looking to range it,” added Wood. Despite only entering Europe last year, Oppo has struck big sponsorship deals in the past few months for the Cricket World Cup and prestigious tennis tournaments including Wimbledon and Roland Garros.
Wood expects Oppo to continue investing heavily to build its brand, seeing the vendor as being able to fill a gap should Huawei struggle to overcome the Google challenges.
“There seems to be a real concerted effort from Oppo to raise the profile of the company, a lot like Huawei used to do in its early days in Europe,” he said.
“There is a clear focus from Oppo to get ranged across European markets and look to grab market share. I expect operators will be looking at Oppo as a brand to potentially fill any gaps Huawei could leave.”