(Bloomberg) — Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is pushing for overseas growth, seeking new revenue streams as its home market struggles with a slowing economy and intense competition.
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The closely held company introduced its latest marquee smartphone aimed at global markets, the Find X8, in Bali, Indonesia, on Thursday. The No. 4 phonemaker globally is open to expanding its manufacturing network outside its home market, senior executive Billy Zhang said, stopping short of announcing any specific plans.
“We can quickly fulfill local customers’ needs with our strong manufacturing capability,” Zhang, president of overseas marketing, sales and services, told reporters in a briefing on the resort island. “Indonesian manufacturing is already a part of our system and we’ve hired a lot of local workers.”
Zhang highlighted the critical role of Indonesia for Oppo’s expansion plans, as the largest nation in Southeast Asia pushes multinational companies to invest more and add local manufacturing. Apple Inc. is among smartphone contenders seeking growth in the country of more than 270 million people, increasing its local investment plans to appease the government and persuade it to lift its sales ban on the US firm’s iPhone 16 phones.
Oppo’s rivals in Indonesia also include its Chinese peers Vivo and Xiaomi Corp., all targeting the young and increasingly tech-savvy consumers of Southeast Asia’s largest economy. At home, Oppo has lost steam this year as Huawei Technologies Co. and Xiaomi gained traction.
Oppo has factories in India, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Brazil, and it sells through more than 300,000 retail outlets in over 70 markets. Overseas markets contribute about 60% of its smartphone shipments, with Southeast Asia and Latin American countries such as Brazil and Argentina driving the growth, the company said in a statement.
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