After striving for years to reach new heights, OPPO still hasn't stepped out of its comfort zone.
"On the first sales day, the activation volume of the OPPO K13 Turbo series increased by 380% compared with the previous generation. The innovative Gale Cooling Engine of the new K series brings superior performance, and its full - level waterproof and anti - fall features, which are more reliable than ordinary mobile phones, are widely recognized."
On the second day after the official release of the new phone, from this good news released by OPPO official, it's not hard to see that OPPO's innovative attempt in the mid - end market this time has initially received positive feedback.
In response, a user commented, "Sure enough, products that listen to users sell well."
However, this also reflects that in the framework narrative of all domestic mobile phone brands striving for the high - end market, when the entire industry is at a turning point of high - intensity efforts in AI, chips, and systems, the reason why this new OPPO phone has become a hit is that it has played two cards simultaneously: "bringing high - end technologies to the mid - end market" and "ultra - high cost - performance", which has impressed consumers and made them willing to pay for it.
The problem is that the price of this phone after the national subsidy is only 1529.15 yuan.
For OPPO, pulling the new mid - end K series phone to this price is not just a temporary concession. Instead, with years of experience of failing to break into the high - end market, OPPO has directly returned to its starting point.
Retracing the old path
When talking about OPPO's high - end strategy, one must mention the Find X series launched in 2018.
At that time, with "futuristic design" at its core, it tried to lay the product gene of "exploring cutting - edge technologies and focusing on high - end experience" for the subsequent Find series.
Unfortunately, it reached its peak at the beginning. The market performance of the subsequent products in this series has never been able to match the glory of the Find X.
The competition in the high - end market is far more intense than expected. Apple and Huawei, the two giants, hold a firm position, and old rivals like Xiaomi and vivo are also pressing hard. Competitors have all brought out their best, trying to gain a foothold in the market.
Although OPPO has continuously tried to make breakthroughs in imaging, design, and fast charging, its efforts always seem to fall short.
Moreover, OPPO even once hoped to enhance the core competitiveness of its high - end products through self - developed chips, but unfortunately, it ended with the dissolution of Zeku.
Facts have proved that the Find X series has neither truly met the core needs of high - end users nor established a high - end brand image that matches its price in consumers' minds.
The most typical manifestation is that its flagship products lack the ability to maintain their prices in the market. For example, although the Find X8 series launched last year was relatively popular, its price dropped rapidly, and it was eventually crowned the title of "the biggest price - cutter of the year", making users feel betrayed by the brand.
Some dealers claim that "OPPO's high - end phones have good parameter performance, but the brand influence is not strong enough to support high premiums. Consumers at the same price are more likely to choose second - hand iPhones."
Judging from the sales volume of the Find X8, it is indeed inferior to the models of its peers at the same level. According to the cumulative activation sales data as of the 27th week of 2025 (July 6) exposed by a digital blogger, the Huawei Mate70 series ranked first with a sales volume of 5.896 million units; the Xiaomi 15 series ranked second with 5.861 million units; the vivo X200 series ranked third with 4.092 million units. Compared with the other three flagship series, the sales volume of the OPPO Find X8 series is relatively low, ranking fourth with 3.175 million units.
The sales volume of the Find X8 is lower than that of its peers at the same level. Source: Xiaoyiping Technology
However, the problem is that it's not just the Find series, which targets the high - end market, that is in a difficult situation.
Looking at OPPO's other three current product lines, the Reno series is positioned in the mid - to - high - end market, targeting mainly young consumers; the K series is aimed at the mid - end market, focusing on cost - performance; the A series covers mid - to - low - end users, emphasizing cost - effectiveness and practicality.
However, the corresponding reality is that although there are fundamental differences in the core functions between the Reno series and the K series, there is an embarrassing situation of self - competition between them (including OnePlus) due to certain price overlaps and resource allocation issues; although the A series has good sales performance, in addition to facing old rivals like Redmi and iQOO, more competitors have also started to launch models with similar prices and positioning (such as the Honor Power series), and it will surely face more intense market competition.
In other words, what OPPO has to deal with is actually a deep - seated challenge in its entire product line layout - its attempt in the high - end market has not been firmly established, there is internal strife in the mid - end market due to internal competition and resource misallocation, and the low - end market is facing a siege from other brands.
Perhaps against this background, OPPO finally seems to have realized the necessity of returning to the original intention of "refocusing on users' real needs".
Back to the thousand - yuan phone market
"It can maintain a normal temperature even in high - temperature environments. Controlling the high temperature generated during gaming is a piece of cake."
"For those with a limited budget who like gaming, choosing this phone is definitely worth it. It can play Honkai: Star Rail smoothly. What more could you ask for?"
"I admit I spoke too loudly before. At first, when I saw the pre - launch promotion of the new OPPO phone saying it would come with a built - in cooling fan, I thought it was just a gimmick to raise the price. But it turned out to be real this time."
...
In the days since the new OPPO phone went on sale, as the first - batch users' personal experiences have spread on the Internet, the discussion about the K13 Turbo series has been heating up.
Of course, what really surprises them is not the innovative design of the built - in cooling fan in the phone. After all, Nubia, which specializes in gaming phones, has already launched several models with fans.
What really "breaks the users' hearts" is the price of the new models in this series.
Among them, the OPPO K13 Turbo with 12GB + 256GB is priced at 1799 yuan before the national subsidy and 1529.15 yuan after the national subsidy, which is the lowest - priced model in the series after the subsidy.
The price after the national subsidy
In the words of netizens, "In the past, only some gaming flagships were equipped with cooling fans. Not to mention competitors, you're selling a phone for over 1000 yuan with a Snapdragon 8s Gen4 and a fan, and it performs better in some games than my Snapdragon 8 Extreme. Then what's the point of my flagship phone that cost me four or five thousand yuan?"
Following the positive feedback from users, the new phone achieved a sales result of "a 380% increase in the activation volume on the first sales day compared with the previous generation".
It should be noted that OPPO's sales volume in the domestic market was under pressure in the first quarter of this year.
Canalys data shows that OPPO's shipments in this quarter were 10.6 million units, a year - on - year decline of 3%, and its market share dropped from 16% in the same period last year to 15%. This trend is also reflected in Counterpoint's statistical data, which shows that OPPO's market share in domestic smartphone shipments dropped from 16% to 15%.
In sharp contrast, data from both institutions show that brands such as Xiaomi, Huawei, and vivo all achieved shipment growth during the same period.
From the internal logic of market operation, the competition for market share among domestic mainstream mobile phone brands is essentially a fierce battle centered around "the last one out".
Brands outside the top five usually find it difficult to maintain a stable position in the long run. Once they lose continuous exposure and their main product lines fail to form competitiveness, they will quickly be abandoned by the core area of traffic focus and the mainstream camp of sales channels, and gradually fade out of the core view of the market.
From this perspective, the sales result of the OPPO K13 Turbo series is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for OPPO at this stage.
It's easier to lower the head than to raise it again
Describing OPPO's current competitive strategy as "bringing high - end technologies to the mid - end market" and "ultra - high cost - performance" couldn't be more appropriate.
Judging from user feedback, the new phone has indeed refreshed the public's perception of the mid - to - low - end market.
In the past, thousand - yuan phones were usually regarded as entry - level products with relatively basic configurations and functions, and mid - end models were also seen as "testing grounds" or "stripped - down versions" of high - end technologies. Configurations like the cooling fan technology or the Snapdragon 8s Gen4 processor were usually only seen in mid - to - high - end flagship models.
This move is no less than an attempt to redefine the competition rules in the mid - to - low - end mobile phone market.
However, risks and rewards always coexist.
This attempt is a high - stakes gamble for OPPO's brand image and market positioning: It's easy to lower the head for a while, but it may take several times more effort to raise it again.
The good thing is that the success of the OPPO K13 Turbo series can enable OPPO to gain certain market attention and positive feedback from users in a short period, which is of inestimable value for enhancing user stickiness in the short term. Especially against the background of sales pressure, this wave of popularity will inject new vitality into OPPO and help it find new growth points in the fierce market competition.
Users' evaluations are generally positive
On the other hand, apart from squeezing the profit margin and potentially affecting the overall profit structure of the enterprise, the more crucial point is that this move will blur OPPO's original positioning boundaries.
Because this not only means that the new K series phone will compete with OPPO's other models to some extent (including OnePlus), but it may also make consumers confused about the brand image that OPPO has been trying to build over the years.
For a long time, consumers have had relatively fixed perceptions of different brands and their product lines. High - end models represent the brand's image and technological strength, while mid - to - low - end models mainly meet consumers' needs for basic functions and price sensitivity.
Consumers' perceptions need to be shaped over years. Once this inherent impression is broken, the brand may need to make more efforts to rebuild its market positioning and users' trust.
Considering OPPO's current situation in the domestic mobile phone market competition, this high - stakes gamble seems to be a necessary move.
Perhaps, in the face of the more extensive proposition of "survival or extinction", discussing whether it's worth it or not has become less important.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Zinc Scale" (ID: znkedu), author: Meng Huiyuan, editor: Li Jinlin. Republished by 36Kr with permission.