What you need to know
- OPPO is pulling out of France, with its main distributor ceasing sales in the country.
- This is in spite of the Chinese manufacturer winning a patent lawsuit against Nokia.
- OPPO says it will continue to offer after-sales service to existing customers.
OPPO's had a tumultuous journey in Europe over the course of the last 12 months, and the brand is pulling out of France as a result. The news comes by Frandroid, which notes that the main distributor for OPPO in the country — Yang Technology — is ceasing sales in the region.
This is in spite of OPPO winning its patent litigation against Nokia. The case has been going on for just over two years, and although OPPO scored a victory, the verdict could be overthrown in an appellate court. It could be that OPPO didn't want to take any chances, and is pulling out of the market preemptively.
"The French judge declares that the EP486 and EP731 patents of Nokia are considered invalid for the reason of lack of novelty. Thus, OPPO won the trial at first instance after a two-year court case over Nokia’s EP486 and EP731 patents."
So what does this mean for OPPO in France? Well, the brand has confirmed that it will continue to offer after-sales service for existing customers, but unless there's a new distribution partner, there won't be any new sales in the region.
"Customer service is taken over by OPPO so all users can continue to use OPPO products, access after-sales services, receive future operating system updates, etc."
And at this moment, it's unlikely that OPPO will go that route, so it's entirely possible that the brand is exiting the region entirely. It's weird to see OPPO pulling out of France at a time when its phone portfolio is particularly strong, but it's feasible that the brand didn't want to deal with judicial headwinds in the region.
As a result, customers in the country looking to pick up OPPO phones in the future will need to go the reseller route.
