Launch of Oppo Find X3 Pro: specifications, price, features, availability

GUANGZHOU, China – Chinese smartphone maker Oppo launched a new flagship device on Thursday as it plans to enter the cutting-edge market to challenge global giants like Apple and Samsung.

Find X3 will be sold in China, while Find X3 Pro will be launched in international markets as Oppo tries to expand its global presence.

Oppo, which is owned by BBK Electronics, made its name by selling low-cost smartphones with attractive features. This helped it grow and become the fourth largest smartphone player in the world in the fourth quarter. In January, Oppo became the number one smartphone supplier in China for the first time, according to Counterpoint Research.

The Chinese company has managed to capture the demand for 5G devices in China with its low-cost A-series and Reno brands. It took advantage of Huawei’s smartphone problems as a result of U.S. sanctions against the company.

Oppo now hopes that Find X3 Pro will give the Chinese telco a way to increase its share of the international market and face companies like Xiaomi, Apple and Samsung.

Here are some details about Find X3 Pro:

• 6.7-inch display called AMOLED (active matrix organic light emitting diode)
• Capable of 5G
• Works with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 processor
• A configured 4-sensor camera that allows ultra-wide-angle shots
• Uses Google’s Android operating system

Oppo also talked about features for a good mobile gaming experience, which is an important focus for smartphone manufacturers today.

The phone will go on sale in Western Europe from 30 March.

Oppo’s international momentum has been going on for years, since its first overseas launch in Thailand in 2009, followed by India in 2014. The focus was on countries where Oppo’s low-cost handsets would thrive.

But expansion has increased most recently with the launch of Oppo in Europe in 2018 and deals with major mobile networks for distribution, a critical part of growth for smartphone makers in many markets.

Along with Android rivals such as Xiaomi, Samsung and Vivo, Oppo will seek to take advantage of the difficulties that Huawei has been facing abroad.

In 2019, Huawei was put on a U.S. blacklist known as the List of Entities, which restricted U.S. companies from exporting technology to the Chinese company. One of the biggest impacts of this was Huawei’s cut from using Google’s Android operating system. This is no big deal in China, where Google services, like Gmail and search, are blocked. But abroad, consumers are used to Android.

And last year, Washington decided to eliminate Huawei from the chips needed for its smartphones. These two actions hurt Huawei’s sales. The Chinese company’s global smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter fell 41% from the previous year, according to Counterpoint Research. In Europe, there was a 62% drop.

“OPPO’s rise can be attributed to being a beneficiary of a huge void left by Huawei. And OPPO capitalized on that opportunity,” said Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint Research.

“With the X3 Pro, OPPO will be keeping an eye on the tens of millions of Huawei users of the Mate and P series in China, as well as worldwide,” he said, referring to Huawei’s flagship smartphone line. The X3 Pro will compete directly with these devices.

But in more mature markets like Europe, Oppo will need to build a “cutting edge image” like Apple and Samsung, according to Will Wong, research manager at International Data Corporation, which can be a challenge for Oppo.

“Oppo needs to target the highest-income consumers who like to have sophisticated products. The launch of the Find X3 series is important to build this sophisticated image,” said Wong.