Just over a year after launching in the UK, Oppo now has the foundations in place to grow in the country and across Europe, says Oppo UK managing director Kevin Cho.
Oppo entered the UK in January last year through an exclusive partnership with retailer Carphone Warehouse and has since launched its Reno 5G smartphone through EE and O2.
Although Cho thinks the UK smartphone market is competitive, he is positive about Oppo’s potential to grow in the country.
Speaking to Mobile News, Cho said: “The UK smartphone sector is very competitive. However, we’re in with some of the UK’s biggest retailers and still looking to grow that this year.
“Last year was about cementing our foundation, but 2020 is about us broadening market penetration.” Oppo’s breakthrough in the UK
last year was helped by strong sponsorship deals – most notably Wimbledon and the Cricket World Cup – with Cho hoping to strike more sponsorships in 2020.
“We expect to strike further partnerships in the year ahead as we look to broaden the brand in the UK and Europe,” he said.
“We are proud of becoming the first mobile brand to sponsor Wimbledon and will continue to leverage our sponsorship this year.”
According to IDC, Oppo’s market share in the UK was 0.8 per cent last year, and 0.5 per cent across Western Europe – with the main focus on raising the brand’s profile. Oppo is the fifth-biggest vendor globally, with an 8.3 per cent market share in Q4 last year. This is likely to grow further as the vendor expands into more markets and with more operators in Europe.
So far this year, Oppo has launched in Germany, and it aims to enter Portugal and Belgium.
Last year, Oppo president of overseas business Alan Wu had said: “We want to become a technology brand that is known by consumers in Europe in the next three to five years.”