Two days before the Oppo Find X10 goes on stage in Mallorca, the company’s European boss has laid out the plan in unusually blunt terms. Elvis Zhou, CEO of Oppo Europe, told TechRadar that “the European premium market is dominated by two brands,” and that Europeans “would be interested in a third, good option.”
He did not name Apple or Samsung. He did not need to. What makes his pitch interesting is not the ambition, which every challenger brand claims, but the tool he thinks will make it work. Oppo believes young buyers increasingly ask AI chatbots which phone to buy, and that chatbots judge phones on features rather than logos. If that is right, it changes who wins the premium market, and not only in Europe.
The mountain Oppo has to climb
The timing is not great. Counterpoint Research says Q3 2026 was the weakest third quarter for global smartphone sales in 14 years. Rising memory chip prices have pushed up the cost of budget and mid-range phones, people are keeping their devices longer and, as we covered when phone shipments hit a 14-year low, Apple and Samsung were the only big brands to gain share. Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo all slipped.
Europe looks even more lopsided than the global picture.
Apple and Samsung each hold 34% of European shipments, according to Counterpoint’s Q2 2026 data. Xiaomi is a distant third at 15%, and Oppo sits fourth at about 4%. Other trackers put Oppo anywhere from 1% to 4%, depending on the country mix. Zhou acknowledged the gap directly: the two leaders “still do have a lot of advantages” in brand awareness and retail reach.
Not cheaper, different
The interesting part of Zhou’s pitch is what it rules out. Chinese brands have historically grown in Europe by undercutting on price. Oppo says that is not the plan this time.
“We are not here to say we will replace one of these established brands. We are here to offer a differentiated third option. We are not here to sell a more affordable smartphone.”
Elvis Zhou, CEO, Oppo Europe
The company has put numbers behind the talk. Reporting from Mobile World Live and Digital Today fills in the targets:
There is some evidence the shift is already happening. Omdia data cited by Mobile World Live shows that more than half of the Oppo phones sold in the UK in the first half of 2026 were Find models, the company’s flagship line. That is a very different mix from a few years ago, when Oppo’s European volume came mostly from the cheaper A and Reno series.
The three trends Oppo is betting on
Zhou said Oppo’s market research turned up three changes in how young Europeans shop for phones. Each one chips away at an advantage Apple and Samsung have spent decades building.
| Trend | Advantage it weakens | Why it helps Oppo |
|---|---|---|
| Buying online | Shelf space at carriers and big retailers | Oppo can sell direct without fighting for store displays |
| Distrust of ads | Huge marketing budgets | Organic user reviews on social media carry more weight than spend |
| Asking AI tools | Brand recognition and search visibility | Chatbots weigh features and reviews, where Oppo often scores well |
The first two are not new ideas. Xiaomi built its European business on online sales and fan communities. The third is the one worth paying attention to.
Why ChatGPT treats Oppo better than Google does
Zhou’s argument is that AI tools “focus more on the features of these products, on the user experience of these products, without other interference.” In plain terms: a chatbot does not care how much a company spent on billboards. It summarizes specs and reviews, and on paper Oppo’s flagships often win.
TechRadar tested this with a simple query, “best phone for photography.” ChatGPT put the Oppo Find X9 Ultra at the top of its list. The same search on Google did not mention Oppo at all until you clicked through to a dedicated camera phone guide. That result is not a fluke. The Find X9 Ultra has been the camera phone reviewers keep talking about all year, as we explained in our look at why the Find X9 Ultra has reviewers rethinking their rankings.
There are caveats Oppo did not dwell on. Chatbot answers change with the wording of a question, and nobody outside the AI companies fully understands how they weigh sources. Phone makers are already learning to optimize for AI answers the same way they once optimized for Google, and AI assistants are beginning to carry sponsored content of their own. A level playing field rarely stays level for long.
Still, the underlying point holds. For a brand with weak name recognition but strong spec sheets, a shopping journey that starts with “which phone should I buy?” instead of “iPhone 18 price” is a real opening. And this is not a Europe-only shift. American shoppers are asking chatbots the same questions, even if Oppo itself does not sell phones in the US.
The privacy question
Asked whether Chinese brands face a trust problem in the West, especially on data privacy, Zhou pointed to the buyers themselves. Young Europeans, he said, are “open-minded,” “rational” and “independent in their decision-making,” and focus on whether the product is good and good value. Their top priorities, according to Oppo’s surveys, are cameras, AI features and battery life.
On privacy specifically, he said Oppo designs its phones around European compliance rules. That is a sensible answer, but a limited one. GDPR compliance is a legal floor that every brand selling in Europe must meet. Perception is a separate battle, and it is one where a software update or a security audit tends to matter more than a CEO statement.
The Find X10 is the first real test
Oppo unveiled the Find X10 series in China in September. Only two models are coming to Europe, and Oppo’s UK store has been taking blind pre-orders, with freebies, since last month. Final prices arrive on October 21. We broke down the specs and the early price expectations in our Find X10 global launch preview, and the leaks have only crept upward since.
| Find X10 | Find X10 Pro Max | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.59 inches | 6.78 inches |
| Chip | Dimensity 9600M | Dimensity 9600 Pro |
| Rear cameras | Two 200MP + 50MP ultrawide | Three 200MP |
| Battery (China) | 8,000mAh | 8,000mAh |
| Battery (Europe, reported) | 7,150mAh | 7,150mAh |
| Leaked EU price | 1,299 to 1,499 euros, by storage | 1,799 euros (12GB/512GB) |
| US availability | Not sold | Not sold |
European prices come from leaks published by Dealabs and are not confirmed. Earlier leaks pointed to lower figures.
This is where the strategy gets tested for real. At around 900 euros, a phone with two 200MP cameras would have been an easy recommendation, the kind a chatbot would happily put at the top of a “best value” list. At 1,799 euros, the Pro Max is competing head on with the iPhone 18 Pro Max and Galaxy S26 Ultra, where buyers care about software support, resale value, repair networks and ecosystem as much as camera specs. Those are exactly the areas where Apple and Samsung are strongest.
Memory costs are part of the story, and they are hitting every brand. But Oppo cannot ask buyers for iPhone money while delivering a smaller battery than Chinese buyers get, and expect the “differentiated experience” line to carry the difference.
What this means if you live in the US
Oppo phones are not officially sold in America, so the Find X10 will not show up at your carrier. But two parts of this story apply here too.
- AI shopping is coming for everyone. If 40% of young Europeans already ask chatbots which phone to buy, US shoppers are not far behind. Expect brands to compete harder for chatbot recommendations, and treat those answers as a starting point, not a verdict.
- Competition sets prices. A credible third premium brand in Europe puts pressure on Apple and Samsung’s flagship pricing worldwide. The US market is even more of a two-horse race, which is one reason prices here rarely come down.
FAQ
What is Oppo’s market share in Europe?
About 4% of smartphone shipments in Q2 2026, according to Counterpoint Research, putting it fourth behind Apple (34%), Samsung (34%) and Xiaomi (15%).
When does the Oppo Find X10 launch in Europe?
The Find X10 and Find X10 Pro Max launch globally on October 21, 2026, at an event in Mallorca, Spain. Official prices will be confirmed there.
How much will the Oppo Find X10 Pro Max cost?
Leaks point to 1,799 euros for the 12GB and 512GB model in Europe, roughly 500 euros more than the Find X9 Pro. Oppo has not confirmed this.
Can I buy an Oppo phone in the US?
Not officially. Oppo does not sell its phones through US carriers or retail stores, and imported models may lack support for some US network bands and carry no local warranty.
Why does ChatGPT recommend Oppo phones?
Chatbots tend to summarize specs and review consensus rather than brand popularity. Oppo’s camera flagships, such as the Find X9 Ultra, score very well on both, so they can rank higher in chatbot answers than in traditional search results.
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