While there’s a high probability that Oppo might be leaving France due to sluggish smartphone sales, the company’s situation in Germany appears to be much more dire. It’s been close to a year since Oppo “temporarily” halted selling phones in Germany due to patent disputes, but now, the company’s official website in Germany is almost entirely gone.
Although the website is still up, there’s little information on it, and phones are no longer listed on the page. The only prominent element left on Oppo’s German portal is a banner reminding visitors that the company is an official global partner for the UEFA Champions League. (via GSMArena)
Another banner confirms that “no product information is currently available on our website. Some of the products are also not available in Germany, including Reno 8 Series, Find N2 Flip.”
The same banner contains one question and an answer concerning support and firmware updates. The company says existing customers can continue to use Oppo products unrestricted, get updates, and access support. And indeed, the only other page on the website besides the home page is the support section.
Oppo seems to be falling apart
While Samsung maintained the lead in shipment market share in Europe throughout Q1 2023 after it covered 34% of the segment, Oppo’s share declined from 6% in Q1 2022 to 4% a year later.
Samsung’s potential rival seems to be slowly retreating from Europe, as smartphone sales are declining worldwide. More so, Oppo’s other divisions have also suffered losses.
Last week, Oppo confirmed that it killed its new in-house chipset business. The company hoped its first in-house chip would compete with Samsung’s Exynos and other solutions by the end of 2024. However, citing economic uncertainties, Oppo suddenly shut down its chip business to the surprise of numerous employees.
With Oppo gradually losing its grip on the phone business, Samsung may have lost one potential rival in Germany and possibly other European markets. Even so, the Korean tech giant still has its work cut out for itself, as Apple — its much more powerful rival — seems to be earning more market share amid the declining phone segment.
