Introduction
Oppo is known as the fastest-growing smartphone brand globally. In the past 4 years, it has made immense growth and acquired large shares in the international market. Let’s have a look at the excellent strategies adopted by Oppo and the loopholes encircling them. Here is the article that is all about Oppo SWOT Analysis.
Oppo strengths
1.Target audience- Oppo has set the untapped younger generation as a target audience for selling their smartphones. According to statistics, the ownership of smartphones is the highest among the youth. 95% of people from the age group of 18-49 own a smartphone, while the ownership of the same for ages 65 years and above is at 61%. Hence setting the younger generation as the target audience and setting marketing agendas revolving around them is considered to be one of Oppo’s major strategies in earning market shares.
2. Specialty-Phone Camera- Oppo takes pride in its high-quality phone camera. It rightfully justifies its tagline- ‘selfie expert’ thus making it the marketing point. With the increased involvement in social media platforms, teenagers nowadays seek to buy a phone that also works as an excellent camera. The camera is the highlight point in all oppo phones. It provides various pro modes which also gives us low-cost DSLR feels.
3. Excellent Marketing- Oppo is known for its huge investments in its marketing. It is one of the highest marketing efforts making company. And their efforts have surely worked in favor of the company as it has successfully built a stronger loyal customer base and brand reputation in recent years owing to its remarkable marketing strategies.
4. User Led – Oppo prioritizes the needs of the users and strives to work on the feedback provided by its users to further improve its features. Oppo has thus inculcated ‘User Led’ as one of the values of the company. It is also known for its high rate of customer satisfaction and after-sales assistance provider.
5. Affordable- In recent years, Oppo smartphones have conquered huge market shares in the developing third world countries of Africa and Asia due to their affordable rates. Although still far behind in the race of dominance in the US market, they have gained international recognition and have successfully set foot on the European smartphone market by acquiring over 3% shares.
Oppo weakness
1.Benchmark Cheating- Oppo has been infamous for cheating in benchmark tests and overestimating their phone quality. Oppo phones have a lower quality with short specs as compared to the phones of other companies who provide those phones at the same price that Oppo asks their customers to pay.
2. Heavy investment in Advertising and Marketing- Oppo is said to spend most of its revenue on its advertising. Oppo pays detailed attention to which celebrities endorse their products and which big events are to be sponsored to promote their phones. Since a high-end investment is made in its promotion, a comparatively much lesser amount is invested in manufacturing the products thus producing low-end phones.
3. Low-quality processing specs- The processing specs are one of the most important parts of a cell phone. The better the quality of the phone spec, the faster will your phone respond. It is one of the areas where Oppo falls behind its competitors who provide a better processing spec at a similar price. Oppo uses outdated processors thus making the phone hang and work slower as the years pass by.
4. Copycat design accusation – Oppo is accused to have no independent design of its own and that it copies from other smartphones particularly the iPhone and then modifies it. However, they still fall back since they can only copy the outer designs but can’t reach the level of such processing units as the iOS in the iPhone.
Oppo opportunities
- Growth Strategies- Oppo has been looking out for opportunities to grow by evolving with innovations. They are looking to support start-ups as a part of the Indian government’s- ‘Make in India’ as India becomes an ever-growing market with its huge youth population and the shift to the 5G network has opened up more grounds for growth in the giant market.
- 5G- The next battle of the smartphones will be surrounding who brings out the best innovative 5G enabled smartphones. It’ll be an opportunity for steadily rising companies like oppo to assert their dominance and topple the toppers.
- Potent Sponsorships- Oppo, being known for its amazing advertising techniques spends huge amounts on building up brand prestige and improve its public image. OPPO has already been sponsoring FC Barcelona, the International Cricket Council, the Indian Cricket Team and has recently entered into a contract with Wimbledon. By signing in with Wimbledon, Oppo became its first Asian sponsor.
Despite all these opportunities to grow, Oppo still faces numerous threats which hinder their ladder to success. Oppo faces intense competition with other smartphone companies with similar phones and styles. Mentioned below are Oppo’s top 3 competitors-
- Samsung- Oppo phones are often called low-end Samsung phones. Oppo possesses the most threat to Samsung and its decades-long phone business. Samsung entered the market (in 1938) way long before Oppo did (in 2004), thus Samsung has more experience and a strong loyal customer base. Oppo is said to outstrip Samsung as the best android seller in most third-world countries. The constant high prices of Samsung phones are where Oppo has taken its chance to topple its opponent. Oppo provides lower-cost phones with almost the same quality thus providing with an alternative to the comparatively higher-priced Samsung phones.
While oppo focuses mainly on mobile and telecommunications technology, Samsung has a much wider base with manufacturing and industrial technologies. Samsung operates from its headquarters based in Seoul, South Korea, 1,274 miles from Oppo’s headquarters in Dongguan in China.
- Vivo- Vivo, and Oppo share the same parent company- BBK Electronics. Hence these two subsidiaries share similar marketing agendas, models, processors, and RAM operators which is why they enter into ruthless competition with one other. They can’t be differentiated in terms of operations or techniques but they still have their little differences inculcated into their smartphones. That is why small differences like phone battery life, design, and higher camera resolution become the topic for disintegration between the two.
- Xiaomi– Xiaomi is another huge multinational company based in China. Xiaomi too has its sub-brands with Redmi, Black Shark, Mi. On the other hand, Oppo is a subsidiary in itself but with another sub-brand under it- OnePlus. Oppo is said to spend a huge amount on advertising and making budget models while Xiaomi spends on quality while targeting both budget and premium models. In any terms, both the companies are leading giants in this intense race of mobile communication technology.
Other competitors of Oppo include HTC, Nokia, Panasonic, Lenovo, etc.
Are oppo phones worth it?
– Oppo, just like other budget sellers tries to give good quality at a cheaper price. But of course, not everything can be included at such a price. If you own a smartphone from any Chinese brand, it’s hard to get rid of the in-built software ads which eat the memory thus resulting in a poorer OS experience.
– There is also the issue regarding security concerns with Chinese technological brands which led to the Huawei ban in 2019. Many people still contemplate before purchasing them due to this reason.
– The best way to evaluate if any phone is worth buying or not is by prioritizing the criteria. If you want a smoothly working camera phone with a limited budget at hand, then surely Oppo provides you the best at the lowest cost possible. But if you seek quality and look for a premium version, then you might want to look at other options.
What makes oppo so popular among youngsters?
– As discussed earlier, Oppo has targeted the youngsters as its target audience. Hence the larger part of its features revolves around features most used by the youth such as gaming consoles. They equip their phones with the latest technology that supports such exceptional features.
– The price is monitored at such a level that low earning students or people in their early job years can also afford it. They also provide an EMI facility which is very common among purchases these days which allows them to pay the amount in equal installments over a period of time.
– The phones are also designed in an elegant style and sleek so that it looks smart and is also easier to carry around.
– Another impressive feature that captures the younger generation’s attention is the long battery life. It charges up quickly and also stays for a long time.
– For the social media-obsessed generation z, smartphones act like cameras hence Oppo’s high-quality camera easily substitutes for both- a camera and a smartphone making it a convenient option and works as a camera phone.
– Owing to its user-led approach, Oppo takes great care of its customers and their needs. They stand out in customer service and provide extensive support for any cases of repairs or damages along with an inclusive warranty deal.
