At the end of March, the rumor broke: Oppo and OnePlus would leave France in 2023. We met people who had worked for Oppo in store who confirmed to us that the situation was not going well.
How is Oppo really doing? While a rumor broke at the very end of March, suggesting that Oppo, and its subsidiary OnePlus, were preparing to leave French territory, the two brands denied these allegations en bloc. Denials which went against the rumors and noises of corridors which went up to the ears of the drafting of Frandroid.
So we investigated. If it is currently impossible to decide with absolute certainty on the cessation of the activities of Oppo and OnePlus in France, the information that we have collected confirms that the time has definitely come to tightening the belt at the seller of smartphones. One departure in the year. One thing is certain, since January, on the ground, the future of Oppo in France seems to be increasingly dark. Explanations.
More commercial animation: the signs that do not lie
To check the state of health of the world number 4 in France, we went to meet those who worked to make Oppo shine in France: the commercial animators. Their role: to push the stores to sell. Three levers are at their disposal: better highlighting of products in stores, training of sales staff, and wetting the shirt by coming to defend the products in store yourself.
According to various telephony players in France, this is an extremely important role for a brand that is trying to find a place for itself in a market. Unlike brands like Samsung and Apple, which could almost do without them and continue to sell, for a brand like Oppo, without them, there are hardly any sales. The people who work in these trades are also nicknamed Sales Force.
And it turns out that according to our information, Oppo’s commercial animation has simply ceased since a few weeks.
In several Parisian brands, we ourselves have seen the lack of strong emphasis on Oppo smartphones. In a Darty in Île-de-France, a salesman told us that the brand was mainly looking to sell stocks and that they did not plan to welcome new products. No more highlighting planned.
A former commercial animator from Oppo met by Frandroid, whom we will call Philippe*, confides to us: “We understood that they are leaving, because we were more trained on new products. We see the Find X coming out in China, oh no, it’s not coming out in France. We see the Renos arriving, will they be released in France? Neither. When the Find N2 Flip arrives, we are told of a store release, and then finally no, it is only available on the site. »
Abrupt cessation of collaboration
The vast majority of Oppo’s sales force worked for a contractor called Atmospheres. This company, which specializes in the sector, has furloughed all external employees working for Oppo, in particular regional managers, ambassadors, coaches, national trainers and sector managers.
The end of the Oppo adventure, with whom Atmospheres had been working for three years, apparently happened in two stages. At the beginning, “the internal message was simple: the agency loses the service contract on June 30”, confides Antoine* to us. Except that the young man, also a commercial animator, quickly realizes that the situation seems more serious. During his visits to the store, everyone talks to him about “the stoppage of the brand in France”which must be removed “Gondola Heads” some stores. More than a situation of end of service contract with Atmospheres, he was therefore asked outright to erase the presence of Oppo in the store.
At the end of March, the rumor of Oppo’s departure from France broke out in the media. Antoine is summoned with all his colleagues to a video call with the whole group. “They explained to us the whole situation which is more than serious. While the collaboration between Oppo and Atmospheres was to end on June 30, the company’s general manager, Arnaud Dutin, announced to his teams that it was over.
“He told us: you stop everything for Oppo”,Philippe tells us. ” We told him that we still had things in place, he told us “we are not doing anything anymore” ”explains Philippe .
Cessation of operations and layoffs
Why such a turnaround? According to the various witnesses interviewed, Oppo would have announced to its subcontractor on March 16, 2023 the future cessation of its operations and non-payment of pending invoices. This would represent a loss of 2.74 million euros for Atmospheres, or a significant part of its turnover (between a third and a half).
“As our boss said, it’s theft, because we’ve continued to make the brand shine since December until today, so four free months for a brand that’s leaving everyone » , abounds Antoine. According to the estimates of the people interviewed as part of this survey, around twenty people have already lost their jobs at Atmospheres due to the cessation of activity with Oppo.
Statement from Oppo on the situation
Before publishing this article, we sent a list of questions to Oppo. The firm replied to us through its press service. She first indicates that she does not wish to communicate on the number of commercial animators still in activity in France. Oppo then confirms to us that the company will still be present in France in July 2023, i.e. after the date of June 30 mentioned by our witnesses. It remains to be seen in what form.
From what we understand in our exchanges with the brand, the lawsuit brought by Nokia for patent issues will play a decisive role in the future of the group in France. We do not know what the date of the deliberation is and Oppo assures us that we are not “authorized to give more details”on the schedule. Regarding the alleged non-payment of 2.74 million euros to Atmospheres, Oppo states the following:“Oppo attaches great importance to its partners, confidential contracts bind us, Oppo is not authorized to confirm or deny the amount as well as the situation. »
The company also wants to reassure potential buyers and current users. She states:“Our top priority is to continue to provide excellent service to our existing users in France, as always. Users can continue to use Oppo products, access after-sales service, receive future operating system updates, and more. Nothing changes for end users. »
We contacted Atmospheres, and to get answers to our questions. None wanted to follow up.
*Names have been changed at the request of the interviewees.
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