OPPO rebounded in Q4 2018 with a +5% YoY growth in smartphone shipments and a +25% YoY growth in wholesale revenue. It climbed to the fourth position in global smartphone market by volume, right after Samsung, Apple, and Huawei this quarter. However, among all top four Chinese OEMs, OPPO is the only one posted annual decline in 2018. OPPO is expanding online channel. It attacked Chinese online segment and launched K series this quarter. But K series posted a mixed result. It also cannibalized the newly launched R17 series to some degree. In overseas markets, OPPO officially split Realm, the young online-focused brand. Realme quickly ramped up volumes by extending footprint from India to more South East Asia countries this quarter. OPPO needs a clear-cut strategy to re-attack online channel in home market in 2019. Meanwhile, product lineup and positioning are the other two areas the Chinese vendor needs to improve this year.

Our report Q4 ’18: OPPO: Mixed Online Channel Expansion was published. WSS client can access the full report from this link.