Xiaomi has been making the news over the past few months for its aggression and product launches around Asia. While media and tech enthusiasts have been focusing on the Chinese brand, another brand has also been ramping up its presence around Southeast Asia, and you might have heard of them too, this brand is none other than OPPO.
Founded back in 2004 in China, OPPO is a global smartphone manufacturer and is a globally registered technology brand with a history of serving customers in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Over the past few months, the smartphone brand has been aggressively looking at the Malaysian and Singaporean market. Sean Deng, Managing Director of OPPO Singapore shared with Vulcan Post that both Malaysia and Singapore have a high concentration of mobile users, making them a noteworthy audience to reach out to.
Within three months of launch, a GFK report wrote that the brand rose to the top five ranks among smartphone brands in Malaysia. Around Southeast Asia, OPPO is also among the top 3 brands in both Vietnam and Thailand, and the top 5 smartphone brands in Indonesia. Just recently too, the relatively new brand in Singapore launched the N1 mini and Neo 5 to consumers in the country.
Behind 47 Available Models, There Are Over 500 Models Which Were Rejected
While many might associate the brand with Xiaomi (which was what we did), Sean assured us that OPPO is very different from Xiaomi. OPPO puts a lot of emphasis on innovative and beautiful designs, and will not hesitate to shut down products that are subpar in quality. This explains the reason why to date, there are only a total of 47 models released to the market.
“OPPO creates products that surpass industry standards and more importantly, evoke a sense of wonderment. Raising the bar every single time, we constantly challenge ourselves to innovate and produce beautiful designs. Let me share with you an example – 6 years since we entered into the smartphone industry, only 47 models to date were released. Not as many as our competitor’s semi-annual product releases, but behind these 47 models were 500 over models proposed that were rejected and shut down. Simply because they did not evoke the sense of beautiful aesthetics or innovation,” shared Sean.
“Only the top-end quality hardware is used in each OPPO Smartphone. Literally, each smartphone is a work of art.”
Watch: Oppo Find 7a Review!
With unique features and functions such as its VOOC charging system, customizable off-screen hand gestures, ColorOS and rotating cameras; OPPO offers its consumers experiences, rather than just products.
Active Marketing In Singapore And Malaysia
To expand its reach in both Singapore and Malaysia, OPPO has been active in its digital marketing efforts over the past few months. OPPO shared with Vulcan Post that they have been “strengthening their digital footprint on popular platforms such as Facebook and Instagram” to reach out to their target consumers. OPPO understands that these platforms are where consumers spend their time on, and through these platforms the brand is able to reach out and assist its consumers through these platforms with greater immediacy.
To understand consumers more, OPPO also launched an Ofan Opinion campaign where the brand rewarded loyal fans who submitted their reviews on the smartphone. With the recent World Cup fever, OPPO challenged fans to guess the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner correctly and be rewarded with an OPPO Find 7 smartphone.
Are There Too Many Smartphone Brands Out There?
With the recent growth on mobile connectivity as well as the increase in smartphones affordability, there are more and more smartphones entering the market. We can’t help but ask, are there too many smartphone brands out there? Is OPPO competing in a very competitive space?
Singapore Managing Director Sean assured us that there are still many opportunities for OPPO.
“The options are definitely diverse for consumers, but the decisions essentially lie in the hands of the manufacturers themselves – to educate and satisfy the needs of its target consumers.”
