OPPO 2025: From Find N5 to Global Strategy, a Brewing Counteroffensive

OPPO 2025: From Find N5 to Global Strategy, a Brewing CounteroffensiveThe beginning of 2025 finds the smartphone market in a fiercely competitive state. OPPO's upcoming foldable flagship, the Find N5, has become a hot topic, boasting a "world's thinnest foldable flagship" design and significant hardware upgrades

OPPO 2025: From Find N5 to Global Strategy, a Brewing Counteroffensive

The beginning of 2025 finds the smartphone market in a fiercely competitive state. OPPO's upcoming foldable flagship, the Find N5, has become a hot topic, boasting a "world's thinnest foldable flagship" design and significant hardware upgrades. However, the Find N5 is merely the tip of the iceberg for OPPO's ambitious 2025 plans. The company is preparing a larger-scale initiative aimed at achieving counter-cyclical growth in this brutal market.

In a Weibo post at 1 AM on January 18th, OPPO's Head of Industrial Design, Liu Haoran, reflected on his ten-year career and hinted at OPPO's 2025 roadmap, including a new OnePlus design language and continued innovation in IoT products. This is just a glimpse of OPPO's comprehensive strategy. Beyond the highly anticipated Find N5, OPPO plans to release two additional Find X8 series models: the Find X8 mini and the Find X8 Ultra. The Find X8 mini focuses on portability and refined design with a 6.3-inch screen, while the Find X8 Ultra aims to be the "strongest Android flagship," featuring top-tier display, performance, and imaging capabilities.

Even more noteworthy is OPPO's apparent intention to expand the "smaller screen" trend into the mid-range market. Industry insider @DigitalChatStation has revealed that OPPO will comprehensively deploy smaller-screen phones in 2025, extending beyond the Find X series to include a smaller model within its mid-range A series. This move not only fills a market gap but also caters to users prioritizing ergonomics and portability.

OPPO's 2025 new phone lineup is impressive, designed to cater to diverse user needs and strengthen its competitiveness in the smartphone market.

OPPO Find N5: A Perfect Fusion of Thinness and Performance

The OPPO Find N5, slated for release after the Lunar New Year, has had its key selling points revealed: an unfolded thickness of approximately 4mm, a 7-core Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, a 3D titanium alloy hinge, and a symmetrical periscope triple-camera design. These specifications indicate the Find N5 will be a highly competitive foldable flagship.

Find X8 Series: Mini and Ultra, a Powerful Combination

The upcoming Find X8 mini and Find X8 Ultra are also highly anticipated. The Find X8 mini, with its 6.3-inch screen, targets users prioritizing portability, while the Find X8 Ultra maintains its top-tier flagship positioning, aiming for the "strongest Android flagship" title through powerful hardware and imaging capabilities.

A Series Smaller Screen Model: A Surprise in the Mid-Range Market

OPPO's expansion of the smaller-screen trend into the mid-range market with a smaller A series model will fill a market gap and offer users more choices. This demonstrates OPPO's precise understanding of user needs and its refined market strategy.

OnePlus's New Design Language: A Metamorphosis

For OnePlus users, the 2025 design language is undoubtedly the most significant point of interest. OnePlus's design has been controversial in recent years. Beginning with the OnePlus 10 Pro, the hinge design became a hallmark, although the OnePlus 12 attempted to rebrand it as a "watch design," it didn't gain widespread acceptance. Only with the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus Ace 5 series, abandoning the hinge design, did a design shift become apparent. However, a complete transformation of the design philosophy remains to be seen. As OPPO's Head of Industrial Design, Liu Haoran stated that the OPPO design team's independence will be further strengthened in 2025, resulting in a completely new OnePlus design language. Whether this will successfully break free from users' preconceived notions of the old design remains to be seen.

OPPO IoT: Innovation as a Key to Success

Liu Haoran's mention of "continuous innovation in IoT" is a response to OPPO's past performance in this area. In 2024, OPPO's IoT product line was not particularly prominent. While the Enco series earphones have received positive reviews, they still lag behind Huawei FreeBuds and Apple AirPods in terms of user ecosystem integration and brand appeal. The OPPO Watch series, though continuously improved, hasn't seen a significant increase in market penetration. OPPO's abandonment of its television business in 2023 reflects its acknowledgment of insufficient market competitiveness.

2025 is crucial for OPPO's IoT business. To break the deadlock, OPPO must innovate, launch more competitive products, enhance the user experience of existing product lines, explore new IoT application scenarios, and implement more forward-looking strategies.

Global Expansion: Overseas Markets as a Strategic Focus

OPPO's signing of Spanish football star Lamine Yamal as a global brand ambassador and its global cross-licensing agreement with Panasonic demonstrate its commitment to entering overseas markets. The partnership with Panasonic clears obstacles to OPPO's overseas expansion, particularly in high-value markets like Europe and Latin America.

Challenges and Opportunities in 2025

In 2024, OPPO ranked fifth globally in market share, but its growth rate lagged behind the industry average, and its domestic market share declined. Huawei's strong resurgence and Xiaomi's continued efforts have put immense pressure on OPPO.

To meet these challenges, OPPO needs to achieve a complete upgrade in both product strength and market positioning. A complete revamp of industrial design, overseas market expansion, innovation in its IoT business, and a comprehensive adjustment of its phone product line are all key areas for OPPO's focus in 2025. Whether the launch of the Find N5, the Find X8 series, and the smaller A series models accurately targets user needs will directly impact OPPO's market performance.

2025 will undoubtedly be full of challenges and opportunities for OPPO. Whether it can withstand the pressure and achieve counter-cyclical growth will depend on its ability to make breakthroughs in innovation and market strategy. This year will determine whether OPPO can transition from "stability" to "breakthrough." OPPO needs to find a breakthrough in the fierce market competition, especially by achieving a complete upgrade in product strength and market positioning. This will be a brewing counteroffensive, and we eagerly await the outcome.