Recent data published by Counterpoint Research paints a bleak picture of the smartphone industry as it is today.
Q3 2026 (that is the period between July and September) marks the lowest Q3 for smartphone sales in 14 years, with challenger brands such as Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo all experiencing declines in market share versus the same period in 2025.
Skyrocketing component costs have destroyed the budget and the middle class, while consumers are keeping their devices longer and becoming more discerning in how and where they spend their money.
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So what should growth-hungry smartphone manufacturers 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 that 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 makers to grow their respective market shares during the aforementioned Q3 period (although they also suffered year-over-year sales declines).
“We’re not here to say we’re going to replace any of these established brands. No. We’re here to offer a differentiated third option […] I believe, in the future, the competition between flagship products [will not be] about price; we are not here to sell a more affordable smartphone. We are here to provide a differentiated experience for the premium market.
“And we heard the same thing [sentiment] through our market research – most premium users would be happy to try a third premium brand.
The European market is not as in love with Apple and Samsung as, for example, the US market, but these companies still account for 68% of the entire European smartphone market (34% each). In contrast, various sources put Oppo’s share of the European pie between 1 and 4%.
That’s a significant mountain to climb for any brand – but Zhou and Oppo have identified three emerging trends that could turn the tide in the Chinese company’s favour.
“I am well aware that these two established brands in the European market still lead the market in terms of brand awareness, sales channels, and even retail channels; they still have many advantages,” Zhou explained. “However, through our market research, we have identified three trends that could be useful to us.
The children are fine
“First of all, the young consumers here in Europe are ready to buy smartphones online. This gives us the opportunity to engage them directly.
“The second trend is that the younger generation is skeptical about advertising. They prefer to believe real user experiences that they see [relayed] on social media platforms. And if they believe [those testimonies]then it has to be good experiences that people share organically on social media – that’s more persuasive, and only good products can do that.
We are not here to say that we will replace any of these established brands.
Elvis Zhou, CEO, Oppo Europe
“The third trend is that younger consumers are asking questions of AI tools during their decision-making process. These AI tools can help our brand because they focus more on the features of these products – on the user experience of these products – without other interference.
The last point is particularly interesting. Chatbots like ChatGPT have quickly become a primary search engine for millions of young people worldwide; If these consumers were to ask an AI platform for information on the best phone to buy, Oppo phones would likely turn up based on numerical specs alone (the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, for example, has better camera specs than the iPhone 18 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra).
Oppo doesn’t enjoy the same visibility via traditional Google searches, as I proved by searching for “best phone for photography” on ChatGPT and Google. The former shows Oppo Find X9 Ultra as the number one choice; the latter does not refer to Oppo at all until you manually click on a dedicated guide to the best camera phone.
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(Image credit: Future)
Of course, young consumers are not so naive to immediately buy the first product recommended by ChatGPT, but Oppo’s increased visibility on the platform can only be a good thing for its brand awareness and ultimately sales.
The perception challenge
In our roundtable interview, Zhou was also asked if Oppo and other Chinese companies have a perception problem in the West, especially around privacy, and the CEO was keen to credit consumers’ ability to decide for themselves which brands to trust.
“We face all kinds of challenges in our work, but for Oppo, because we are here in an overseas market, our focus is more on market research. I have met many young consumers here in Europe, and I find that they are very open. They are well educated, reasonable and rational. They are independent in their decision-making process.
“These young consumers, when they buy their personal items, focus more on the product itself. Is this experience good enough? Is it good value for money? And through our market surveys, we found that young consumers are more interested in good imaging. [capabilities]AI [features]and also battery autonomy.
“In addition,” Zhou continued, “the European market pays great attention to data protection, so we pay great attention to our compliance policy. We want to make sure that when we design our products, we meet all these compliance regulatory requirements.
Oppo, then, is putting all its eggs in the premium basket for the foreseeable future – and its next pair of flagship phones, the camera-focused Oppo Find X10 and X10 Pro Max, will be the first test of the company’s new premiumization strategy.
We expect both devices to be more expensive than their predecessors, but if, as Oppo says, young European consumers really value education, AI, and battery life above all else, the Find X10 series has every chance to make a splash on the continent.
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