Oppo expected to ramp up production capacity in 2017

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is significantly increasing production capacity after experiencing a surge in demand for its handsets in 2016. The company has yet to announce a shipment target for 2017, but according to IHS Technology, Oppo is aiming to produce 160 million units this year.

This would be an increase of nearly 61 percent from the 99.4 million it shipped in 2016, representing a 7.3% share of the global smartphone market. Other sources had more conservative predictions, saying the company will only see an increase of around 20 percent for a total of 120 million units shipped in 2017.

In order to increase its production capacity, sources said Oppo increased the number of production plants in China from three to five, set up a production base in Indonesia and is looking to establish a plant in India.

Oppo currently leads shipment and market share in China with 16.8 percent of the domestic smartphone market, beating out Huawei and Vivo. While Oppo grew 122.2 percent since last year, Apple and Xiaomi are falling behind the Chinese competition, experiencing year-on-year decline of 23.2 percent and 26 percent, respectively. Last year was also the first time in several years that Apple’s iPhone was not the best-selling phone in China; that title went to the Oppo R9.

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