Oppo appeared to backtrack on a target of becoming a leading smartphone brand in Europe by 2024, while insisting it was fully committed to the market despite being forced to suspend sales of certain products in Germany due to a patent row with Nokia.

In a media briefing, Billy Zhang, VP of overseas sales and services, said there was limited information he could disclose regarding the lawsuit with Nokia, but reiterated it would continue to invest in the country.

The executive added he “firmly believed” the issue would be “properly resolved”.

In June, a German court sided with Nokia in a dispute over a Wi-Fi patent, backing a call by the Finnish vendor to impose an injunction on certain device shipments.

Zhang added Oppo did not plan to move its European headquarters from Germany, while maintaining the row had no impact on any of its other operations in the continent, which go on as normal.

No targets
While reiterating a commitment to Europe throughout the briefing, it appears the company is not as bullish publicly as it was a year ago regarding its hopes for the market.

In March 2021, Oppo’s western Europe president Maggie Xue said it was targeting securing a “leading spot” across the whole continent within the next three years.

Zhang now insisted it did not target being number one in the market, and instead was focused on creating “great products”, with “market success naturally following”.

“As for whether there is a specific target for market position, that is not something we will consider first hand,” he said.

Citing data from Canalys from 2021, Zhang said the company was ranked number four in terms of shipments both globally and in Europe.

Instead of focusing on gaining market share and catching rivals, Zhang argued Oppo did not use a competition orientated mindset, which could lead to going “astray and many of our actions will be based on a quick fix”.

During the briefing, Zhang announced Oppo would hold an event in Paris on 31 August to launch new handset and IoT products for the European market.