Oppo Could be Exiting France by the End of June

[T0@st]

There are strong indications that Oppo is winding down its operations in France according to a report published by Frandroid last weekend, which goes against the company's denial that it was exiting several markets across the European Union, including France. Frandroid's investigative piece states that French retail workers had provided enough evidence, back in late March, for the publication to make the claim that Oppo was withdrawing from that region. The news outlet has gathered more insider information since then and now claims that a promotions company - Atmospheres - has not been contracted to help market Oppo's lastest smartphone models, including the Find N2 Flip. The agreement between the two firms was already set to end on June 30, but the promo team was expecting a renewal or extension - their boss finally admitted that it was all over and done with.

Frandroid has observed that Oppo is not updating its display material at big box stores, in particular Fnac Darty, and a salesperson confirmed that that they were only obligated to clear existing smartphone stock and related accessories. A former Oppo regional sales manager told the publication about a cessation of product training - under normal circumstances the team gets briefed about the latest products in advance, but the insider confides (under an alias): "We understood that they were leaving...We see the Find X coming out in China, oh no, it's not coming out in France. We see the new Reno phones arriving, will they be released in France? Neither. When the Find N2 Flip arrives, we are told of a store release, and then finally no, it is only available on the web store."



Oppo France was approached for comment - a company spokesperson said that they would not answer queries relating to the reduction of promotional activities in the region. They state that Oppo will continue to operate in July (2023) and provide support: "Our top priority is to continue to provide excellent service to our existing users in France, as always. Users can continue to use Oppo products, access after-sales service, receive future operating system updates, and more. Nothing changes for end users." Frandroid understands that Oppo's future in France (and other European territories) could pivot on an ongoing legal battle with Nokia - the latter has filed a lawsuit (against Oppo/BBK Electronics) relating to apparent patent infringements. The French spokesperson stated that they are not "authorized to give more details" about the timing of the final verdict.

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[bonehead123]

If Nokia is turning into a bunch of greedy patent trolls, they should just die a horrible, painful death !

I understand the need to protect your IP, but that should not be allowed to happen at the expense of fooking up the entire market for everyone else, thereby reducing competition & choice and raising prices for all consumers...

 

[ZoneDymo]

If Nokia is turning into a bunch of greedy patent trolls, they should just die a horrible, painful death !

I understand the need to protect your IP, but that should not be allowed to happen at the expense of fooking up the entire market for everyone else, thereby reducing competition & choice and raising prices for all consumers...

Last time I checked Nokia still makes products, nothing greedy about having put effort and money towards r&d and then sueing those that just steal it

 

[Chaitanya]

Last time I checked Nokia still makes products, nothing greedy about having put effort and money towards r&d and then sueing those that just steal it

Thats not the old Nokia, its HMD which is making Nokia branded phones.

 

[Dave65]

Isn't OPPO a Chinese company?
I'm not up on smart phones.

 

[kondamin]

Isn't OPPO a Chinese company?
I'm not up on smart phones.

Yep and one plus is also pretty much oppo.

kinda fear we’re going to go to a time where you can get apple or Samsung in the west.
nothing else

 

[R0H1T]

That's a fair bit alarmist, BBK is the owner(majority stakeholder?) in OP/Vivo/Oppo/Realme/iQOO & between the 5 of them they have the biggest market-share across the globe so no they're not going away any time soon.

BBK Electronics - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[FinlandApollo]

Thats not the old Nokia, its HMD which is making Nokia branded phones.

But the same Nokia that made phones previously, still exists. And I agree, there's nothing wrong for suing someone for patent infringement. If you have spend a lot of money in R&D and then someone steals it while flipping you off, it's more than justified to sue their asses.