Oppo bets on premium push in Europe, citing AI chatbots as a phone-buying gateway
In a roundtable interview with TechRadar, Oppo Europe CEO Elvis Zhou said the company will pursue an aggressive premiumization strategy in Europe, aiming to be a differentiated third premium option rather than compete on price against the two brands that dominate the segment. The article cites Counterpoint Research data showing Q3 2026 was the lowest Q3 for smartphone sales in 14 years, with Apple and Samsung at roughly 34% of the European market each while Oppo's share is put at between 1% and 4%. Zhou said Oppo's own survey found more than 40% of young people ask AI tools questions when buying a phone, which he argues favors products judged on features; the upcoming Find X10 and Find X10 Pro Max, with the Pro Max due October 21, are described as the first test of the strategy.
The report presents AI chatbots as an emerging channel shaping how young buyers choose phones, which Oppo cites in framing its European premium strategy; the 40% figure comes from Oppo's own survey with no disclosed methodology.
Recent data published by Counterpoint Research paints a bleak picture of the smartphone industry as it stands today.
Q3 2026 (that’s the period between July and September) marked the lowest Q3 for smartphone sales in 14 years, with challenger brands like Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo all experiencing declines in market share versus the same period in 2025.
Skyrocketing component costs have wreaked havoc on the budget and mid-range tiers, while consumers are holding onto their devices for longer and have become more discerning in how and where they spend their money.
What, then, are growth-hungry smartphone manufacturers to do? Oppo, for its part, plans to pursue an aggressive premiumization strategy in Europe.
“The European premium market is dominated by two brands,” Elvis Zhou, CEO of Oppo Europe, explained to TechRadar in a recent roundtable interview. “I believe local European consumers would be interested in a third, good option.”
Zhou didn’t mention Apple and Samsung by name in our discussion, but those two companies were the only two smartphone manufacturers to grow their respective market shares during that aforementioned Q3 period (though they, too, suffered year-on-year sales declines).
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