OPPO and OnePlus smartphones in Trouble
Chinese smartphone manufacturers around the world seem to be having a difficult time. India is not the only country seeking to penalize Chinese smartphone companies for inappropriate business practices.
Germany has recently taken action to penalize Chinese smartphone manufacturers for their questionable practices.
A German court has issued a ruling prohibiting Oppo and OnePlus from selling their 5G smartphones in the country.
It is expected that other countries in the European Union will soon follow suit.
The reason for the ban on Oppo and OnePlus smartphones in Germany has nothing to do with money laundering or income tax evade, but rather a patent dispute between Nokia and Chinese smartphone manufacturers.
The large amount of 5G technology patents in the arsenal of Finnish technology company Nokia is becoming a major problem for numerous Chinese smartphone manufacturers.
The Mannheim District Court of Germany in July this year govern in favor of Nokia and found that Oppo and OnePlus do not hold valid licenses for the 5G technology used by their smartphones.
Further, the court order says to act on settlement in terms of licensing fees and if failed to do so it will impose a sales ban on Oppo smartphones, and this is what exactly happened from August 5.
OPPO’s German microsite lists no products but displays information that users can continue using OPPO products without any restrictions and will also receive future updates.
OnePlus German microsite doesn’t list any cell phones for sales.
One of the said reasons why OnePlus and OPPO couldn’t make a licensing deal both the smartphone makers earn a small amount of margin on each smartphone they sell but hope to make a good amount of money from it.
If ever the license deal would have eloped, the smartphone makers OPPO and OnePlus need to pay about 2.50 Euros per device. Yes, you heard right per device 2.50 Euros.
Now just think how large the European electronics market is, and OPPO and OnePlus being all-time cheap phones, the smartphone might be selling every other second in the market.
So, it would have been a huge loss to both companies by paying the penalty as per the court order.
BBK Electronics parent company of OPPO and OnePlus has a similar chance to face the same problem. BBK Electronic’s portfolio includes VIVO, IQOO, Realme, etc.
Nokia has filed too many lawsuits against BBK group in different countries like UK, Netherlands, Spain, France, Finland, and Sweden.