Huawei may soon find itself another China-based competitor, as Oppo will reportedly start selling smartphones in the United States before the year ends.
Industry sources revealed that the company will roll out its highly coveted smartphones that have already surpassed Huawei in sales in other parts of the world. Oppo's popularity worldwide can be attributed to its range of smartphones that offer high-definition cameras. One of its latest models, the R9s, boasts 4K video capabilities and 16-megapixel front and rear cameras.
The brand has slowly become a household name and is getting its fair share of users who opted to try it instead of other smartphone makers such as Apple, Samsung, or Huawei.
Oppo electronics are already available in 20 countries. In the United States, the company sells Blu-ray devices, but smartphones are just about to launch, a report from DigiTimes reveals.
Oppo Top Vendor
Oppo smartphones are already popular in China, Asia, and other countries. In fact, last April, Oppo, along with another smartphone manufacturer Vivo, has made it to the top 5 smartphone vendors, according to the International Data Corporation.
"This quarter for the first time ever, we have seen new market leaders for the top two spots. Oppo and Vivo collectively now control almost one-third of the Chinese smartphone market," James Yan, research director of Counterpoint Technology Market Research, said in an interview with The China Daily.
Oppo's Race Against Huawei
It was reported that Oppo has surpassed Huawei and Apple with a 23 percent market share as sales volumes went up by 337 percent, Counterpoint Technology said.
In comparison, Huawei already gained popularity in the United States, with its users looking forward to its Android system Android 7.0 Nougat upgrade coming in the first quarter of 2017. Despite that, Huawei is still expected to feel the presence of Oppo.
With Huawei's popularity in the Western market, industry players and consumers eyed the release of overseas brands in the United States. The smartphones created by the China-based company have been gaining praises because of the features it offers such as AMOLED displays and fast-charging capability.
Based on statistics, Oppo already managed to outsell fellow Chinese OEM Huawei, and industry players are now interested to find out how the company will perform in the United States.
If Oppo will indeed roll out its smartphone range in the country this December, results of its competition against Huawei will be evident by the first quarter of 2017.
