Smartphone manufacturer OPPO has sold tens of thousands of smartphones since launching in South Africa in October 2020. The company entered the local market with three smartphone models last year – the budget A15 and A53, and the mid-range A72.
OPPO South Africa’s head of go-to-market and operations, Liam Faurie told MyBroadband the local market has received OPPO phenomenally well.
Only five months after launching, it had sold more than 30,000 smartphones in South Africa. We are growing faster than any other brand before,” Faurie claimed.
The company has partnered with Vodacom and MTN to offer its smartphones to their customers. In February, we received the data that we are in the top 4 brands in Vodacom postpaid business,” Faurie said.
Both the A72 and A15 are among the top 3 best-selling smartphones in their respective price segments. Its user base is now growing by at least 500 to 600 customers per day, Faurie said.
Should this momentum continue, it would put the brand on course to pass 150,000 users in South Africa by the end of 2021. This progress mirrors OPPO’s gains in other regions around the world – such as China – where it surpassed Huawei to become the number one smartphone maker in the final quarter of 2020.
According to Gartner, OPPO was the fifth largest smartphone brand by shipments in 2020 – at just under 112 million units claiming around 8.3% of the market share.
OPPO recently brought its first premium offering to the country – the Reno5 5G smartphone.
In addition to 5G connectivity, it boasts a fast Snapdragon processor, advanced rear quad-camera system and photographic software, and the fastest charging capabilities of any smartphone sold in South Africa.
Commenting on the expectations on performance of this product, Faurie said he had asked the OPPO South Africa team to double the amount of stock to be shipped into South Africa on the same day as its launch. This was due to unprecedented demand on orders from operators and retailers.
“I wasn’t expecting the purchase orders to come in the way that they have. I also did not expect the back orders to come in the way that they have,” Faurie said.
“I believe we are going to sell loads of this phone,” Faurie said.
Faurie provided details on two new OPPO products coming to the South African market in the next few months.
One of these will be a new 5G-capable entry in its affordable A series, which is set to be launched around April. OPPO is also in commercial discussions with a major 5G operator in South Africa to bring its OPPO T1 5G router to home Internet users.
In other news – Pearl Modiadie leaves Metro FM
Radio and TV presenter Pearl Modiadie and her co-host Thomas Msengana are leaving Metro FM.
The pair has added to the number of radio presenters who have hanged their headphones this month. Pearl announced her exit from Metro FM on Twitter. She said her last broadcast will be this coming Wednesday. Learn more
Source: mybroadband
