Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is expanding its reach to smart glasses to highlight its position as a tech brand while scaling up efforts to penetrate the high-end handset market, including foldable phones.
"We will focus more on innovative products to strengthen our position as a tech company not just a smartphone maker with research and development investment of US$7 billion in 2019-21," Andy Shi, president for Asia-Pacific, said in a virtual interview.
The company is gearing up for investment in smart glasses, Internet of Things and wearables as well as other innovative products, he said.
"We empower and enable consumers with innovative technologies to enable them to live better and stay connected," said Mr Shi.
The recent Oppo Inno Day 2021 announced its brand proposition of "Inspiration Ahead", highlighting optimism and inspiration against challenges and uncertainties.
He said Oppo will remain proactive and develop new technologies that meet global digital trends and changing consumer lifestyles beyond the realm of smartphones, he said.
Oppo also unveiled Oppo Air Glass, an assisted reality (AR) device with a groundbreaking monocle waveguide design.
Asked if the device is meant to serve the metaverse, Mr Shi said the item is a third-generation wearable which blends digital and physical experiences.
The device supports navigation, health data monitoring, teleprompter and live speech-to-text translation without the burden of a large and heavy device, he said.
In the smartphone segment, Oppo for the first time rolled out the foldable Oppo Find N, offering a fully functioning compact smartphone when folded and an intuitive and immersive landscape display when unfolded.
With its cutting-edge imaging NPU, the device can deliver high image processing power, he said, adding the device would aid Oppo's flagship smartphone segment gain momentum.
Despite the challenge of the chipset shortage, Oppo has multiple sources to deal with the issue and it also can produce its own chipsets, he said.
Thailand is one of the most important markets in Asean, apart from Malaysia, Mr Shi said.
"Oppo chose Thailand as its first overseas expansion destination about a decade ago and the company continues to focus on this strategic market with a strong culture among youngsters, digitalisation and the shift to 5G," said Mr Shi. "The company continues to build its brand image and invest in social responsibility."
Chanon Jirayukul, executive vice-president of Oppo Thailand, said the company has a strong presence in mid-range smartphones but it is now scaling up efforts to make gains in the high-end handset segment, making sure the company will become the smartphone market leader.
Sales of Oppo's high-end handsets surged 40% this year, he said.
"The smartphone segment has been minimally impacted by the pandemic but we face challenges in terms of exchange rates and supply shortage," he said.
