China’s Oppo doubling down on R&D investment to tap 5G opportunities beyond smartphones
- Oppo, one of China’s biggest smartphone brands, is boosting its R&D spending to 50 billion yuan (US$7.1 billion) between 2020 and 2022
- It is looking to expand beyond smartphones to other 5G-enabled products such as augmented reality glasses and smart displays
The Shenzhen-based company will invest 50 billion yuan (US$7.1 billion) in R&D between 2020 and 2022, its founder and chief executive Tony Chen Yongming said in a speech at Oppo’s Inno Day event, its annual global technology convention, on Tuesday. “The arrival of the 5G era is bound to set off a new information revolution, which will become a major business opportunity for Oppo and its business partners from all industries worldwide,” he said.
Although handsets will remain the major gateway to 5G, the technology – which promises lightning fast wireless connections, reduced latency and massive capacity – has many other applications. Chen stressed in his speech that Oppo was looking to grow beyond just a smartphone company to tap other opportunities in 5G. The company has plans to introduce a slew of smart devices and services including augmented reality glasses and smart displays, he said.
Oppo announces AR glasses and IoT products
It makes sense for smartphone companies to diversify their portfolios in the age of 5G, according to Mo Jia, an analyst at research firm Canalys.
“If you compete for smartphone products, you will be restricted by the supply chain. So companies need to diversify their business to secure the future,” Mo said. “Oppo is a latecomer in many fields [compared with its competitors], so it needs a bigger investment to catch up in the 5G era.”
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