Oppo Find X5 series on display at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
Ryan Brown | CNBC
BARCELONA — Huawei’s pain was the gain of other Chinese smartphone makers at the biggest mobile show of the year.
Smaller Chinese smartphone brands such as Oppo, Honor and Realme caused a stir at Mobile World Congress this week with a slew of new device launches and aggressive international expansion plans.
Oppo has launched its new flagship Find X5 Pro, a premium device featuring a white ceramic back with a sleek bump that houses a camera unit developed by Swedish manufacturer Hasselblad.
The Oppo Find X5 Pro starts at 1,299 euros ($1,445), while two more affordable models, the Find X5 Lite and Find X5, will cost 999 euros and 499 euros respectively.
“Oppo is well positioned to take Huawei’s position as Samsung’s main Android challenger,” said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight.
“The company now needs to double down on its marketing to get consumers aware of its brand and products.”
Filling the void left by Huawei
Huawei is no more than a shadow of itself. The company’s smartphone division has shrunk significantly following US sanctions that have prevented the company from sourcing key semiconductor equipment and software, including the licensed version of Google’s Android operating system.
This gives domestic rivals like Oppo, Honor and Realme a chance to shine in Europe and other international markets that promise rapid growth and a large audience for Apple’s iPhone alternatives.
Realme launched the GT 2 Pro this week, its first debut of a high-end smartphone beyond its home market.
Developed in partnership with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa, the handset is made from a bio-polymer material that is meant to look like paper and, according to the company, is environmentally friendly.
The GT 2 Pro will retail for $800, while a standard version will cost around $600.
Smartphones on display at Qualcomm’s MWC booth.
Ryan Brown | CNBC
“In the European market, as well as any other market, we are positioning ourselves as providing affordable phones with great performance and trendy design,” Realme CEO Sky Li told CNBC last week.
Both Oppo and Realme are owned by Chinese tech conglomerate BBK Electronics. They compete with fellow Chinese Xiaomi, which did not launch a new flagship at this year’s MWC, as well as Samsung and Apple.
Honor, meanwhile, has launched the Honor Magic4 Pro, a new flagship device that the firm claims can reach a full charge in 30 minutes.
The Magic4 Pro will start at 1,100 euros, while a cheaper Magic 4 will cost 900 euros.
Honor was recently spun off from Huawei in an divestiture deal aimed at shielding it from the fallout from US sanctions against the Chinese tech giant.
The likes of Xiaomi and Oppo gained ground over Apple and Samsung in 2021, as Huawei slipped through the ranks of the world’s top smartphone makers.
Xiaomi sold 190 million handsets globally last year, up 31% from 2020, according to Counterpoint Research, while Oppo increased shipments by 28% to 143 million units.
Xiaomi’s Mobile World Congress exhibition.
Ryan Brown | CNBC
Honor is also regaining market share in China, becoming the third-largest player in the industry domestically for the first time in August, according to data from Counterpoint.
Granted, Huawei still makes its own phones. The company recently launched the P50 Pocket, a foldable clamshell phone, in international markets. However, its commercial performance outside of China has been severely reduced.
On Tuesday, Huawei’s rotating chairman Guo Ping said the company remained committed to its overseas markets.
“Will Huawei withdraw from the international market? Our answer continues to be ‘no,'” he told MWC attendees in a pre-recorded speech. “We will continue our globalization strategy, in standards, talent, supply chain, etc.”
– CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report