Oppo will launch its foldable clamshell smartphone, the Find N2 Flip in France. On the other hand, the Find N2, it is still not planned in Europe. This strategic choice can be explained in several ways.
Oppo Find N2 et Find N2 Flip // Source : Oppo
Oppo hits hard at the end of the year with two new foldable smartphones. But while we were mainly eyeing the Oppo Find N2 (which we took in hand), it is rather the Oppo Find N2 Flip which will be available in France during the first quarter of 2022. Instead of the folding phone in book format, it is therefore the clamshell model that will be launched first outside China and in particular in Europe.
Foldable smartphones in the style of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 are however often considered to be the spearheads of this particular sector of the mobile market. Some explanations were therefore necessary to justify this strategic choice of Oppo with the Find N2 Flip.
YouTube linkSubscribe to Aroged
Simply sell smartphones
A spokesperson for Oppo France was able to answer this question. “When you look at the foldable smartphone market, you can see that Flip formats are really the biggest sales volume,” he explains. It doesn’t give any official figures, but makes it clear that an Oppo Find N2 Flip is much more likely to see a lot of sales in Europe compared to an Oppo Find N2.
When we talk about the foldable smartphone market, we obviously look at Samsung, which claimed 62% of the market share in the world in the first half of 2022, according to Counterpoint Research. However, this dynamic is particularly driven by clamshell formats. TM Roh, president and CEO of Samsung’s mobile division, explained in a blog post published in July that “last year, 70% of folding Galaxy users switched to the Flip”. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 has also started very well.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 // Source: Robin Wycke – Aroged
In summary, if Oppo is particularly proud of its Find N2, it takes less risk with the Find N2 Flip. Moreover, the prices, although still high, are much more competitive on the clamshell formats than on the book formats.
Advancing on familiar ground
Flip foldable smartphones also have another strength: they allow you to stay in a comfort zone. This is true for both manufacturers and users. For brands, this clamshell format represents a much easier challenge to grasp in terms of software. The unfolded smartphone looks like any phone and you only have to think of a few options for the external screen or the Flex mode in order to innovate a bit and have some selling points.
Oppo Find N2 Flip // Source : Oppo
On a book format, like the Find N2 or the Galaxy Z Fold 4, there are more elements to take into account, if only to correctly display the applications on the large internal screen acting as a tablet. Oppo also explains that this is one of the reasons why the Find N2 is not planned for Europe. Software optimizations for the big screen are not yet satisfactory enough to offer a good experience to Western users.
An interesting argument, but which leaves a little perplexed when we see that Samsung is doing quite well on its Fold. The Oppo Find N2 has a very square screen, however, which may not make developers’ jobs any easier.
Oppo Find N2 // Source : Arnaud Gelineau – Aroged
On the user side, the Flip format is the one that comes closest to a classic smartphone. It is therefore probably easier to adopt it. Moreover, a Samsung official explained to us at IFA how the care taken in the design of these models was essential. Finally, as an additional argument, we could also evoke the nostalgia of flip phones.
Towards lower prices?
Generally, a competitive market leads to lower prices. Seeing Oppo launch its Find N2 Flip in France is therefore something to please consumer wallets. Alas, this enthusiasm must be nuanced. The Chinese giant assumes that it does not want to cut market prices. The brand wants to bet on the added value it brings to its products and thus explicitly suggests that, at least on its first generation of clamshell smartphone, it will come face to face with Samsung on a very similar price segment.
Let’s stay optimistic. In a few years, we could observe a drop in prices, but this is coming later than expected.
To follow us, we invite you to download our Android and iOS application. You can read our articles, files, and watch our latest YouTube videos.
