News broke yesterday of OPPO and OnePlus’ potential exit from important European markets. While OPPO maintained that its business in the UK and Europe remains “normal,” OnePlus’ statement outright rejected any plans to exit the regions. Now, a third statement from the OPPO press team in Europe brings more doubts than clarifications on what’s really happening behind the scenes.
OPPO and OnePlus are committed to all the existing European markets. We had a great start in 2023 with the successful launches of several products in Europe and have a line-up of upcoming products for the rest of the year. As always, OPPO and OnePlus will continue to provide more innovative products and the best-in-class service for users moving forward.
Reading between the lines, it seems that OPPO and OnePlus will remain in existing European markets, at least for the remainder of 2023. The companies say they have new products lined up for the rest of the year but don’t specify if these products are new phones or just peripherals like wearables, earbuds, and such. It’s also mysterious why OPPO and OnePlus don’t mention any intent to stay on in Europe beyond 2023.
Meanwhile, the companies also opened up about the ban on their phones in Germany owing to a patent lawsuit that went in Nokia’s favor. They put out the following joint statement:
Currently, the impact of the injunction is limited to the German market. OPPO is operating as usual in other European countries. We are committed to our existing markets and still working proactively to resolve the matter with Nokia. Meanwhile, all users, including German users, can continue to use their products, receive after-sale service and future OTAs, etc.
According to popular leaker and WinFuture journalist Roland Quandt, OPPO will shutter its German team by the end of June. This “does not necessarily mean they’re shutting their EU ops, which is also headquartered in Germany,” Quandt said.
