Abandoning the "Factory Girl Phone," How Many Cards Does OPPO Have Left to "Survive"?

Since the release of the iPhone 17, major Android phone manufacturers have become restless. OPPO was the first to show a strong pursuit momentum, frequently hyping up its upcoming new flagship, the OPPO Find X9, which is set to debut on October 16, on platforms such as Weibo.

Zhou Yibao, the product leader of OPPO's Find series, has repeatedly promoted the launch through social media, boldly claiming that "the Find X9 series is flawless in every aspect." It will be equipped with the most powerful imaging system, the latest flagship chip, the smoothest ColorOS 16 system, the best battery life, and a physical four - equal - side design.

"We respect Apple, but we are also confident. OPPO only aims to be the best, not a substitute!" These words reflect OPPO's transformation in recent years from the mid - to low - end market, once labeled as "factory girls' phones," to the high - end market comparable to "iPhone." IDC research data shows that OPPO has continuously increased its layout of mid - to high - end products in recent years, and the proportion of models priced above $300 has been increasing year by year. The Find X8 series launched last year was a crucial attempt, with its first - sales quarter shipments increasing by 66% year - on - year compared to the previous generation.

Therefore, the upcoming Find X9 is even more critical. It not only needs to continue the growth momentum brought by the Find X8 but also needs to achieve substantial breakthroughs in product strength and brand recognition to support OPPO's foothold in the high - end market.

1

Penetrating Strategy:

Meeting the Ultimate Needs of "Factory Girls"

OPPO once practiced a precise market positioning strategy with its "factory girls' phone" label.

Instead of competing with big brands like Apple, it quietly took root and grew in third - and fourth - tier cities, widely spreading its offline channels across the country. Some comments pointed out that "almost wherever there are people, you can find traces of OPPO." Consumers in third - and fourth - tier cities are mostly practical and have a high acceptance of mobile phones that are fashionable in appearance and can meet daily needs such as surfing the Internet, playing games, and watching videos. Therefore, OPPO, which is easily accessible and meets the needs, has become the first choice for many people when buying a phone.

Sun Yongjie, a technology analyst, told Feng Huang WEEKLY Finance that the main reason OPPO was previously called a "factory girls' phone" was that its product design was fashionable, the color schemes were vivid, and the cost - performance ratio was outstanding, which matched the consumption preferences of young users, especially the migrant workers in the south.

Data shows that since OPPO launched its first "smiling face phone" A103 in 2008 to enter the mobile phone market, it has developed rapidly. From 2013 to 2019, OPPO launched a new model every six months. In 2016, the OPPO R9 became a hit in the price range of 2,000 - 3,000 yuan, thanks to its selling point of "five minutes of charging, two hours of talking" and endorsements by a group of stars such as Yang Mi, the TFBOYS group, and Yang Yang.

Screenshot of an OPPO advertisement

Moreover, OPPO even surpassed Apple in sales several times and topped the domestic market. According to the sales ranking of the overall domestic mobile phone market from January to December 2018 released by CINNO Research, OPPO ranked first with sales of 76.37 million units, leading Vivo, Huawei, Honor, Apple, and Xiaomi.

With its high - appearance design, strong photography capabilities, star endorsements, and dense offline network, OPPO did enjoy a wave of traffic and sales dividends.

With the arrival of consumption upgrading and the 5G phone replacement wave, consumers' focus on mobile phones has gradually shifted from "cost - performance ratio" to "quality - price ratio," and technological strength has become the new focus of competition.

For OPPO, which has long focused on appearance and marketing, the development ceiling has gradually emerged, and it urgently needs to find new growth drivers.

According to data from the research institution Counterpoint Research, OPPO's domestic market share fluctuated significantly between 2024 and 2025.

Specifically, in the second quarter of 2024, OPPO's share was 14.6%, a year - on - year decline of 9.8%, ranking sixth. In the third quarter, it rebounded slightly to 14.7%, rising to fifth. In the fourth quarter, it dropped to sixth again, a year - on - year decrease of about 9%.

In 2025, OPPO's market performance became more stable. In the second quarter, OPPO (including OnePlus) reached a share of 16%, tied for third with Xiaomi. Analysts pointed out that OPPO stabilized its basic market with the Find series and the OnePlus digital series, and the overall trend has stabilized. However, it still faces continuous competition from Xiaomi and Honor in the mid - end market, and the performance of its high - end models is not outstanding enough. It needs to seek further breakthroughs in technological and product strength.

2

Targeting Apple:

Can it Truly Break Through the Technological Barrier?

Facing the cruel market competition, OPPO has initiated a strategic transformation, targeting Apple, the industry benchmark. It attempts to achieve high - end breakthroughs by learning from Apple's core experiences and combining its own advantages.

The launch of the Find X series in 2018 marked OPPO's official entry into the high - end market, and imaging capabilities have always been the key to its layout.

Recently, Liu Zuohu, OPPO's chief product officer, posted a long article on Weibo, saying that the upcoming OPPO Find X9 will bring a "picture quality revolution," emphasizing that OPPO's cooperation with Hasselblad has entered its fifth year, and the two sides have deeply integrated in terms of hardware, software, and photographic aesthetic.

Notably, OPPO also shows a tendency to get closer to Apple in the interactive design of its imaging functions. The flagship Find X8 Pro launched in 2024 introduced an independent camera button design similar to that of the iPhone 16 series, which was evaluated by some users as having an "iPhone - like operation." The ColorOS system also borrowed the style of iOS in aspects such as the camera interface and imaging preview, perhaps "intentionally" reducing the learning cost for users switching from iPhone to OPPO.

The camera interface of the OPPO Find X9. Photo/OPPO's official Weibo

Some analysts believe that OPPO's bet is that if it can establish an obvious advantage in the imaging experience that users can perceive, it will have a chance to form a differentiated selling point in the high - end market.

Sun Yongjie holds a cautious attitude. In his view, "Although OPPO frequently emphasizes its 'in - depth cooperation' with Hasselblad, the specific details of how to improve the quality of the final photos have not been fully demonstrated. The halo of the cooperative brand does not equal leading technological strength. In the end, it still depends on the user experience."

Has OPPO made substantial progress in its high - end transformation? According to the data of the global high - end mobile phone market in the first half of 2025 released by Counterpoint Research, Apple dominated the market with a share of over 62%. Brands such as Samsung and Xiaomi had significant growth rates, while OPPO did not make it into the top five. It can be seen that although the Find X8 series achieved certain sales growth at the initial stage of its release, the public's perception of the label "OPPO has strong photography capabilities" is still limited.

Sun Yongjie further pointed out: "Although OPPO's 'factory girls' phone' image accumulated in the mid - to low - end market in the past has faded, its high - end imaging brand building is still in its infancy." He believes that Apple's imaging advantage not only comes from hardware parameters but also from its self - research capabilities in chips, algorithms, and systems. If OPPO only stays at the level of cooperative customization and function borrowing and lacks underlying technological accumulation, the so - called "targeting" Apple may just be a false proposition.

It can be seen that while advancing technologically, how to improve the overall brand image in the high - end market is an important issue OPPO faces. As of press time, OPPO has not responded to relevant inquiries.

3

On the Eve of the High - End Phone Battle,

What are OPPO's Aces?

Despite the severe challenges, OPPO may still hold several important cards on its way to the high - end market, giving it the "confidence."

Firstly, it is the continuous investment in the foldable screen field. IDC data shows that in the first half of 2025, the Chinese foldable screen market increased by 12.6% year - on - year, and OPPO ranked third with a share of 6.1%. Although there is a significant gap with Huawei (which has a market share of 75%), the foldable flagship OPPO Find N5 launched this year still maintained a certain market presence with its selling point of being "the world's thinnest foldable flagship."

Secondly, its sub - brand OnePlus shows growth resilience and has become a differentiated force in OPPO's product matrix. According to Liu Baoyou, the brand general manager of OnePlus in China, the overall channel sales of OnePlus in the first half of 2025 increased by 31% year - on - year, ranking first in the industry. It can be seen that OnePlus's positioning among gamers and young users is bringing vitality to OPPO.

OnePlus phone

Thirdly, it is the continuous accumulation of AI technology research and development. Although OPPO has terminated its self - developed chip business, it clearly centered on "getting closer to AI" at last year's developer conference, attempting to build an open ecosystem. Sun Yanbiao, the chairman of the Chaodian Think Tank, told Feng Huang WEEKLY Finance that "continuously accumulating technological strength is the foundation for targeting Apple." Whether AI can become OPPO's differentiated technological leverage still needs to be verified by products.

Notably, OPPO has also completed an important personnel layout recently. In June this year, Liu Bo, the former president of OPPO China, stepped down from the positions of legal representative, director, and manager of OPPO Guangdong Mobile Communications Co., Ltd., and was succeeded by Senior Vice - President Duan Yaohui, who is now fully responsible for the China - market business. Duan Yaohui is a key figure who grew up in OPPO's product system. His resume spans from the feature - phone era to the smart - phone era, and he has led the product planning of multiple businesses. Along with this adjustment, there were also changes in the offline sales segment. Tang Jie, the former GTM minister of the Reno series, took over the offline sales and reports to Duan Yaohui.

Industry analysts believe that this series of changes shows that OPPO is shifting to a more practical and high - end - focused strategy.

Looking at the current situation, the Find X9 is undoubtedly a crucial battle in OPPO's high - end strategy. If the Find X9 can achieve breakthroughs in the market and in terms of word - of - mouth, OPPO is expected to truly enter a new stage of long - term competition with Apple; if it performs mediocrely, its high - end vision may face doubts again.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Feng Huang WEEKLY Finance", author: Tao Yajie. Republished by 36Kr with permission.