OPINION: It wouldn’t be a new week without a new phone rumour, and this one’s a doozy.
According to notable leaker Max Jambor, Oppo and OnePlus – subsidiaries of BBK – are pulling out of key markets in Europe including the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, with an announcement said to be imminent – however, OnePlus itself disagrees.
Jambor took to Twitter this morning to reveal that both Oppo and OnePlus are bowing out of the European market.
Update: There will be an official statement from OPPO/OnePlus soon!Right now only Germany, France, UK and Netherlands will close down. For the rest of Europe it is unknown at this point. https://t.co/qENykHpRUJ— Max Jambor (@MaxJmb) March 27, 2023
Usually, this wouldn’t attract much attention, but the leaker is fairly bang on the money when it comes to OnePlus rumours in particular, so it has got people talking. It would be odd for Jambor to go all-in on a rumour that might not be 100% true, after all.
To assuage the fears of the company disappearing from UK and European markets among the chaos that has ensued, OnePlus and Oppo have both told Trusted Reviews that “OPPO and OnePlus are committed to all the existing European markets and the UK. We had a great start in 2023 with the successful launches of several products in Europe and have a line-up of upcoming products for the rest of the year.”
The OnePlus 11
Given the fact that OnePlus recently launched the flagship OnePlus 11, a phone that I was very impressed with, and is also actively teasing the release of the OnePlus foldable in 2023, it would indeed be a weird time for the company to back out of key markets.
But while the companies are firmly going against the leakers’ narrative, there could be some truth to Oppo bowing out of the European market. In fact, there’s already plenty of evidence to support that move.
The most recent, and most obvious, sign of Oppo’s intentions comes with the flagship Oppo Find X6 Pro. While most other Oppo Find flagships have been available in the UK and mainland Europe, Oppo has confirmed that the latest flagship won’t be released internationally, instead sticking to a China-only release.
It was a bit of a shock in the tech community when the news was announced last week, but in the context of the rumour, it begins to make sense.
You could argue that Oppo only recently bolstered its efforts in Europe with the clamshell foldable Find N2 Flip, and I’d agree with you there, but it’s only half of the story with Oppo’s regular book-style Find N also staying exclusive to the Chinese market.
The Oppo Find N2 Flip
Could the launch of the Find N2 Flip have been Oppo’s last hoorah? I really hope not. I was a huge fan of the Oppo Find N2 Flip in my review, offering a huge upgrade over the popular Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, and I was looking forward to continued competition from Oppo, particularly in the foldable space.
These are bad signs of things to come, but it’s not set in stone just yet. Until Oppo officially confirms that it’s ending its business in Europe, I’ll continue to look forward to great-quality Oppo phones on British and EU shores.
