OPPO recently announced that it will hold a global conference for the new flagship product, Find X, on June 19 in Paris, France. As a result, the outside world has speculated that the OPPO hinted that its product will soon land on the European market.
Domestic mobile phone manufacturers have finally ushered in the era of great navigation in recent years. Domestic mobile phone manufacturers have finally ushered in the era of great navigation in recent years, sharpening the pace of gradual development of overseas markets.
Speaking of OPPO mobile phones, most users are very impressed by their strong performance in the domestic market, but they often do not understand their overseas markets. In fact, among domestic manufacturers OPPO is an early one to open up overseas markets, from its entry into Thailand in 2009 For nearly a decade, since the manufacture of mobile phones in 2008, OPPO has not neglected the importance of overseas markets from the very beginning.
The overseas market of OPPO can be roughly divided into three stages:
The first phase: 2009-2012 is the trial phase
The main purpose of this stage is to explore and learn the experience of the sea, and Southeast Asia has become the first leg of the OPPO to open up overseas markets. These countries are not only geographically close to China, but also more importantly local cultural traditions and consumer habits. It is also very similar in China, which helps to reduce resistance. Entering the Thai market in 2009, the first-time OPPO had enough patience. It took eight years of hard work to finally gain a foothold in the local market. IDC 2017 data show that OPPO ranked second in market share in Thailand. The OPPO accumulated valuable practical experience in the first stop of the Thai market, laying the foundation for the subsequent planning of the sea.
Phase 2: 2012-2015 is the verification phase
The purpose is to test its experience in the Thai market and apply it to other developing country markets. After experience and strength have improved, OPPO has entered the Vietnamese market since 2012. OPPO officially entered the Indonesian market one year later, and in 2014 It opened its first overseas assembly plant in 2014. In 2014, OPPO chose to enter the Philippines, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Australia. The difference is that OPPO entering the Australian market chose to enter through self-operated e-commerce, and in 2015 After the standard products are formally planned, they choose to enter the public and operator channels.
OPPO's performance in the Taiwan market was even more impressive. According to data from the Taiwan media that year, OPPO officially launched R11 in July 2017. In the following month, R11 was even more pressured to win the championship in Taiwan’s regional market, and its Two of its A57 and A77 models also appeared on the list, ranking fourth and ninth in the list. In the past, it was incredible for any domestic manufacturer.
Phase 3: After 2015, the expansion phase
After technology accumulation and product quality performance have been further improved, the performance of each OPPO series model has increased in the market, and the overall strength has increased significantly. According to IDC data, the OPPO accounted for 8.1% of the global market in 2015, second only to the Apple position. Ranked fourth, compared with 2014, the growth rate was as high as 36.2%. At this time, its overseas market experience has matured. OPPO entered the Egyptian market in the same year and opened a Middle East and Africa marketing center in Cairo, the capital, for localization marketing. In 2017, OPPO entered Russia and entered the Japanese market in 2018. At the same time, it set up a research institute in the area and brought the explosive product OPPO R11s to the local market.
Just as CEO Chen Mingyong said when talking about overseas market strategies: 'Meals need to sip one bite, each market must be ploughed, and OPPO must extend to the next market when the existing market is doing a good job.' Turning over the development process of overseas markets, it is not difficult to see that the OPPO has indeed stepped down steadily step by step.
Thanks to the guiding ideology of gradual and steady development, OPPO has been relatively stable in overseas markets and has basically maintained a steady upward trend. According to OPPO official news, its mobile phone business has now covered China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. A total of 31 countries and territories in various regions of Oceania and Oceania achieved remarkable results in multiple markets outside of China.
According to data from international third-party authorities such as IDC and GFK, OPPO ranked second in market share in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, and Pakistan in 2017. Even in Singapore, this developed country’s market rankings climbed to third.
The success of different countries' markets fully validates the correctness of OPPO's existing strategies for overseas markets. For example, for the Indian market, OPPO focuses on sports marketing. As we all know, cricket is the national sport of India, and OPPO has opened the local market more smoothly. Sponsored the Indian Cricket National Team. Formally through this localization of marketing in overseas markets, OPPO's overseas brand awareness increased rapidly.
Supply chain management is the invisible line of the smart phone market Supply chain management is the unseen line of competition in the smart phone market. It insists on a unified product line strategy, and effectively improves the success rate of shipping in the sea.
In addition to following the principle of gradual and non-progressive, OPPO can achieve better results in overseas market expansion, and there is another factor that can easily be ignored by the outside world.
That is: Its product strategy is very similar to Apple's. It does not develop specific products for individual markets. Instead, it develops hardware products for the global market, and at the same time integrates local marketing to open the market. This is in line with the products that some manufacturers actively promote. The localization strategy is just the opposite. In the words of CEO Chen Mingyong, there is no strict overseas and Chinese market division in the OPPO market strategy. Good products are the global common language.
The reason why OPPO adopts such a product strategy is related to the current status of the smart phone market: First, the thinner, lighter, and larger screen share has become the consensus of the industry. Therefore, the appearance design of smart phones increasingly converge and almost all are rounded. Small changes on the basis of rectangles, and consumers in other countries have already acquiesced to this reality. Second, smart phones have long been not limited to communication tools and have become personal mobile life assistants. More and more functions are being carried by APPs. The application ecosystem is very mature enough to meet the diverse needs of users. In this case, the necessity of localization of hardware products no longer exists.
However, I still believe that OPPO’s choice of product strategy similar to that of Apple is more based on considerations of interest. According to analysis, a unified product strategy for hardware products can bring many benefits to enterprises:
1, With greater economies of scale, which helps reduce unit costs
Whether it is hardware design and R&D or production and manufacturing, the unit cost of the global unified product line is lower than that of hardware localization. This is particularly important in the increasingly concentrated smartphone market today. The second and third tier brands are trapped in the profit trap. The big factor is that their products are too small, and the supply chain lacks the right to speak. This leads to higher costs in materials procurement, manufacturing, and manufacturing than in the first-line brands. Apple can maintain high prices for many years. The profitability is related to its superior supply chain management capabilities. The global unified product line is a very important basic factor in Apple's supply chain strategy. Similarly, OPPO's profitability can lead the domestic manufacturers. There are also reasons for this. .
2. Shorten the time to enter new markets and increase market efficiency
If you want to develop new hardware products each time you enter a new market, then it will inevitably increase the length of preparation time. Market competition will stress the opportunity, and sometimes several months in the morning and in the future may cause big differences in outcomes. The global unified product line can By skipping the steps of hardware product R&D, through the system optimization and development of existing products, it can quickly be launched in new markets, and the efficiency is greatly improved, so that the initiative is held in their hands.
3, Avoid the risk of product development costs in specific markets, reduce investment risks, increase success rate
Failure to develop hardware products for a regional market means that there is no need to incur additional hardware R&D production costs when entering a new market. At the same time, more funds can be invested in marketing, brand marketing, etc. to help companies in the new market quickly Improve brand awareness and promote sales conversion. This can reduce investment risks and increase the success rate of developing overseas markets.
Of course, it does not mean that after the global unified product line, OPPO does not need to be localized. In overseas markets, products are adjusted accordingly to local needs, so as to satisfy the habits of local market users. For example, when OPPO brings dream version R15 to the Japanese market, It has a deep understanding of the Japanese consumer market. Therefore, adding the waterproof function to this terminal, the seemingly impermanent function is actually the best embodiment for the local market user's localization habits. It is necessary to know that the Japanese market itself is very resistant to the waterproof function. High demand.
Market Saturation Does Not Mean No Opportunity and Low Value Market Saturation Does Not Mean No Opportunity and Low Value
Uniquely, why did the OPPO attach so much importance to the European market?
In recent years, most domestic manufacturers have gone out to sea, focusing on major emerging market countries such as India and Indonesia. The market growth rate there is high, and the market access threshold is low, and it is expected to achieve rapid growth.
Relatively speaking, the OPPO's strategy is different. Before 2015, it was also dominated by emerging market countries. However, in recent years, the focus has shifted to the developed countries. From testing Australia in 2015 to entering Japan earlier this year, and then to this time It implied that the European market will be on the verge of sending a clear signal to the outside world. Based on what kind of strategy is it based on?
1. Establish high-end products and brand image on a global scale
The European Union is the market with the most stringent and standardized global access standards and regulations. It often leads the world in terms of production standards, environmental protection requirements, intellectual property rights, and user information protection. If the company’s products can obtain tickets to the EU market, It has a significant meaning, represents the improvement of its product and brand image, and is more credible in the international market. In the early years, Japanese companies also adopted this approach to open up the global market. They often start to force the European and American markets to establish a brand and then enter the market. Other countries.
2, although the European market is saturated but has a greater market value
Although the EU mobile phone market entered a saturation state before China, but with hundreds of millions of middle- and high-income users, the shipments are dominated by medium and high-end products, so the market value is still very large. At the same time, the demand growth in Eastern European countries is relatively strong, and there are also growth opportunities. The EU is not only an important regional market for Samsung and Apple in recent years, but also one of their major sources of profit. Any manufacturer that can cut a share of the EU market can get a valuable cup of cash from the market. OPPO clearly Do not want to miss this opportunity.
3, It helps to promote brand in other markets in the future
For historical reasons, European countries have strong traditional influence in other countries in the world, such as Britain for Commonwealth countries, Spain and Portugal for South American countries, France for North Africa, etc. Successful brands in European countries are often very vulnerable to these countries. The recognition of consumers has led to a smoother entry into the market. At present, most of these countries have not yet entered the OPPO. If they can establish a market position in European countries, they will be able to promote branding in these emerging markets in the future. It is even more likely to achieve a multiplier effect in markets that are more affected by European countries.
It is no coincidence that entering Europe is the beginning of an overseas market.
In May 2018, OPPO announced the appointment of OPPO vice president Wu Qiang to take overall responsibility for OPPO's overseas market overall business. Just one month later, OPPO put the global launch of the new flagship mobile phone in Paris, France. This is obviously not a coincidence.
Wu Qiang had been responsible for the marketing business in mainland China. It was under his leadership that the OPPO mobile phone had rapidly emerged in the mainland market in recent years, and it has pushed into the top three. Now OPPO will hand over the overseas market business to this powerful leader, obviously looking forward to it. Gao. This shows that the OPPO's overall market strategy has been adjusted. After a firm position in the domestic market, it has consciously shifted its market focus to overseas markets.
Before entering Australia in 2015, landing in Japan earlier this year, and this time in the European Union, the pace of the OPPO's entry into the markets of developed countries is clearly accelerating. Not surprisingly, the next phase of its overseas market plan should focus on the United States-based North American market. Once established in the European and North American markets, it will be OPPO's stage of large-scale expansion of overseas markets. In other words, the OPPO's landing in Europe is only a new beginning for it to force overseas markets.