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How the first year in SA shaped up for Oppo and what the future holds

Oppo has been operating in South Africa for a year now. Well, a year and three weeks if we are being precise, as the Chinese smartphone maker has entrenched itself into the local landscape.

From an outsider’s perspective, the move looked daunting, especially given the dominance of a handful of players locally. Added to this was a global pandemic, which saw several businesses shutter doors and big tech firms falter.

To find out how the past 12 months have treated Oppo in South Africa, as well as what the next year holds, we recently spoke to head of marketing, Avashnee Moodley, on the subject.

Hypertext: Can you unpack the past year in terms of launching a mobile brand in SA during a global pandemic. What challenges did it present and how were those overcome?

Avashnee Moodley: It has been a challenging period, however, through the support from partners OPPO have found ways to work together to ensure business success and brand longevity.

As they say “Covid-19 has brought 2025 forward”.

OPPO’s strategy is centered around collaboration. We strongly believe in the importance of collaboration in delivering innovative breakthroughs. We have been working with world-class partners such as Google, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Netflix and Amazon; actively collaborating with world’s renowned research institutes in the fields of AI, 5G and engineering. 

This has worked well in our favour, as we have shared goals to keep pushing our technology into new and exciting areas, which has enabled us to deliver something meaningful, with customer experience as our key motivator.

We have seen a handful of players enter the smartphone market over the past two years. What has OPPO’s approach been and what kinds of investments is the brand aiming to make moving forward?

AM: We do not focus on competitors, but rather spend our time thinking about how we can better the experience for citizens using our smart devices. We do encourage competition as it offers more choice to customers, improves on service, and encourages innovation.

Coming into South Africa, we had to have a unique understanding of the climate around technology, business and lifestyle. We initially launched (in September) with our mid-tier devices which are more affordable options but still offer unmatched user experience.

Our difference is our innovation and price point as we continue to provide affordable access to world-class technology without any compromise on function. The growth has been fast and holds steady, as we are in the top 4 of smartphone brands sold in two of the market’s largest operators, with more than 150 000 happy OPPO users in South Africa.

We are establishing the Oppo brand in this market as we realise it is a potential growth market, our approach to investing in the country is through empowering local teams, and creating opportunities for employment across all our operations, including having provided over 400 jobs in South Africa.

From an after sales perspective, accessories remain an issue for many newly launched phone brands in SA. How is OPPO tackling this and ensuring consumers have a wealth of options available in a space that is geared towards Apple and Samsung for the most part?

AM: We bundle our Enco buds with our premium products, while they are also available for purchase in store. We have also aligned with accessory partners to offer a range of OPPO accessories including the 64W SuperVOOC Charger.

We pride ourselves on offering a range of premium devices that are uncompromised in capabilities while remaining largely affordable for local budgets. Thus far, we have only a 0.3 percent return rate, proving the durability and quality of OPPO devices.

As we continue to grow, we plan on further diversifying our offerings, and expand on our product range outside of just smartphones.

While brick-and-mortar locations are not really an option at the moment, are there any plans to have physical OPPO stores in SA down the line?

AM: As of now, there are no immediate plans to launch physical footholds in South Africa.

We have partnered with four of the country’s major network providers, including Telkom, Cell C, Vodacom and MTN, which carry our devices. Dedicated OPPO representatives can be found in select stores, with whom customers are able to speak with regarding any information they may need on our products.

Our devices are also largely available in various retail outlets. We will continue to expand our retail footprint, with our focus being to ensure a wide availability for OPPO products.

Are there any plans to bring more expensive flagship phones to SA in the near future? 

AM: We will continue to expand our premium range and continually enhance our team capability to build up to more premium launches in 2022.

Lastly, with a view of 2022 in mind, how will we see the OPPO strategy evolve?

AM: Our key aim is to continue our growth within South Africa and accumulate users to OPPO premium products while building hero products that push OPPO into greater innovation and break through the high-end market.

With our ongoing investment locally, we will continue to create greater job opportunities.

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