Oppo is regarded as a cheap mobile phone brand but with a convincing package that is catered to the lower and mid segment, the R17 or any other of its series retail around RM1000- RM1500 and many customers regard the phones as good and affordable. Having strongly positioned itself in this space the Chinese assembler is now looking to create similar phenomena in a totally unexpected area of the market… the Entry segment with a sub brand, Realme.

While the likes of Huawei and Vivo (Chinese brands) look to step up on making higher-end devices with the Mate20 and Vivo 11 aiming to dethrone the likes of Samsung and Apple, Oppo is heading in the opposite direction with Realme. But the strategy could work, for instance the phone garnered strong sales in India shipping hundreds of thousands within minutes making it the fourth most popular online smartphone brand and hopes to replicate the success here in Malaysia.

Oppo Malaysia unveiled three models here this week, Realme C1, Realme 2 and Realme Pro (read our first impression) all affordably priced and sporting a commendable set of features. With a starting price of RM499 the phones will be ready for the upcoming 11.11 sales with the Realme2 sold exclusively online at RM 849 (4GB RAM + 64GB ROM), RM 949 (6GB RAM + 64GB ROM), and RM 1,099 (8GB RAM + 128GB ROM). And special deal on Shopee for RM 799 and RM 999 respectively.

This will shake things up in the entry market leaving the likes of Wiko, Nubia, Leagoo and others scrambling to reorganise themselves. With razor thin margins and a fragment of the marketing budget Oppo has, the death knell is louder than before for these players with little room to maneuver in this competitive segment.