In what could be the biggest news this week (if true), it's being reported that BKK smartphone brands, Oppo and OnePlus will pull out of the UK, Germany, France, and The Netherlands initially before a Europe-wide retreat. The rumor comes soon after the launch of Oppo's stunning Find X6 Pro which the brand has insisted will not launch outside of China. The reasoning behind the rumored action is unclear although it's likely to be related to the ongoing dispute between BKK and Nokia in Germany which already lead to the removal of the Oppo and OnePlus brands from the territory.
Updated: Well, that didn't take long. OnePlus has issued the following statement on the rumor:
“OnePlus will not exit from Europe and the UK and maintains stable operations in local markets. OnePlus will continue to invest in Europe and provide more innovative product and solutions for its users.”
A joint Oppo and OnePlus statement was also issued to refute the rumor:
“OPPO and OnePlus are committed to all the existing European markets and the UK. We had a great start in 2023 with the successful launches of several products in Europe and have a line-up of upcoming products for the rest of the year. As always, OPPO and OnePlus will continue to provide more innovative products and the best-in-class service for users moving forward.”
Whilst Oppo's insistence on not launching the Find X6 Pro in Europe leads a certain credence to the report, the fact is that the brand did release its new Find N2 Flip in the region just a few weeks ago. It's much the same story for OnePlus which has already released the excellent OnePlus 11 5G in Europe (and the US) with the launch of the Nord CE 3 Lite scheduled for April 3rd and the OnePlus Pad tablet sometime after. These are not the activities of a brand looking to pull out of the UK or European markets.
Still, where there is smoke there is usually fire which means that BKK is perhaps making contingency plans or applying some pressure to retailers and carriers in Europe in the hope of getting some help regarding Nokia's suit in Germany which threatens to spill over to other markets.
We have a feeling that we haven't quite heard the last of this report. What are your thoughts on this?
The rumor comes via Max Jambor via Twitter (above) with apparent confirmation of the action which was gleaned from Chinese publication 36Kr. Besides Oppo and OnePlus, if true then it would also affect fellow BKK brands Vivo and Realme, both of which already have a minimal presence in the UK.
We've requested statements from Oppo and OnePlus about the rumor and will update the post when we hear something.
