China’s Oppo launches F3 smartphone in the UAE

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo has launched its latest device the F3 in the Gulf region under an aggressive pricing strategy.

The aluminium handset, which is being marketed for its wide-angle group selfie camera, features a 5.5-inch HD display, front fingerprint scanner, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage and slots for two SIM cards and an SD card.

It will be available in the UAE from May 12, priced at a competitive Dhs1,199, with India, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar to follow the day after.

“Selfies and group selfies have now become a social norm for our consumers. The F3 will let consumers enjoy a hassle-free group selfie experience and further reinforce OPPO’s leading position in camera phone innovation in the industry,” said Sky Li, OPPO Vice President and Managing Director of International Mobile Business.

The launch comes as Oppo continues to gain smartphone market share globally.

First quarter data from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows Oppo’s share rising to 7.4 per cent of the global market with 25.6 million units shipped compared to 5.9 per cent share and 19.7 million units shipped in Q1 2016.

The firm stands 2.4 per cent behind the third largest manufacturer Huawei, which shipped 34.2 million units during the quarter. Samsung and Apple led the market with 79.2 million and 51.6 million units shipped respectively in the first three months of the year.

IDC noted that nearly a quarter of Oppo’s shipments during the quarter were to international markets where it continues to grow.

“In the rest of Asia and to a smaller degree in the Middle East and Africa regions, its strong retail presence has helped it to grow further in its business,” the firm said.

“It has been aggressive in both above-the-line and below-the-line activities in India, and stepped up with its after-sales service efforts in several Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia by increasing its number of service centres.”