(Yicai Global) Nov. 25 -- There should be an uptick in Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp.’s performance next year as there is still stable demand for mobile phones despite the slowdown in sales this year, Sina Tech reported, citing the vice president of the Chinese smartphone manufacturer.

The sluggish cellphone market this year posed huge challenges to mobile phone makers, and Oppo is no exception, Liu Bo, who is also head of the company’s China business, said yesterday. But there will always be demand for smartphones, he added.

“Market demand is generally stable and there is no need to be too pessimistic or even too optimistic should the situation improve,” Liu said. The average price of smartphones has been on the rise since 2020 and users are using their handsets more.

If people in China replace their mobile phones once every three years, then in theory, even with the existence of the second-hand market, there is still demand for between 250 million and 270 million new handsets a year, Liu said.

Next year, performance will improve slightly but not in terms of sales quantity, he said. Oppo is no longer only focused on turnover, but also takes the average transaction value and gross merchandise value into account.

Sales growth this year will be under 10 percent from last year, Liu said. The Chinese market is stable, and the Southeastern, Indian and Latin American markets are performing well.

Oppo unveiled three Reno9 phones at the event yesterday. Its Reno series now has 70 million users globally, and the repurchase rate, or the proportion of people choosing to buy the same brand again, is over 56 percent, Liu said.

“We do not have a high inventory this year and are not under great pressure to offload stock,” Liu said, adding that Shenzhen-based Oppo had surplus inventory last year and the year before last but stayed calm and rational.

China’s smartphone sales dived 11.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier to 71.1 million units, according to US market research firm International Data Corp. Oppo accounted for 11.6 percent of market share, after Vivo Communication Technology and Honor, at 11.6 million units.

Editor: Kim Taylor