Oppo Find N3 creator: How this smartphone will transform the foldable market

OPPO had always focused on the mass market and became a household brand with their range of affordable smartphones.

In 2021, the company unveiled the OPPO Find N foldable smartphone, which it had been developing secretly for four years to penetrate the premium space. It was their most expensive phone ever, but it sold out quickly in China.

That was when OPPO leaders discovered a surprising fact about their new audience of well-heeled customers.

OPPO had assumed that foldable phone buyers would be heavy mobile users. After all, their first foldable phone was packed to the gills with the latest features and technologies.

“Instead, we found out that the high-income customers tend to use their phones less,” says Zhou Yibao, leader of OPPO’s foldable line.

“Their time and attention are their most valuable assets. Therefore, the higher the user's economic status, the simpler their needs. They just want a phone that is smooth, easy to use, and that matches their status.”

This new insight inspired Zhou and his team to design foldable phones that offered both sophisticated simplicity and unparalleled performance.

Two years later in 2023, OPPO struck champagne gold with its latest Find N3 foldable phone.

A creative zenith

Unfolding the OPPO Find N3 reveals a remarkable blend of art and science.

Inspired by the design of luxury watches and the concept of orderly harmony, the phone demonstrates the obsession of product perfection by Zhou’s foldable division.

It boasts a record thinness of 5.8mm when unfolded, a massive 7.8-inch display for incredible immersion and a pro-grade camera system to create works of art. After years of constant iteration, OPPO has largely eliminated screen creases with its aviation grade materials, so the phone display always maintains a smooth surface at any angle.

The flagship Find N3 is a bona fide hit: it has surpassed sales forecasts since its October launch this year, selling more than five times the units of OPPO’s most recent flagship smartphone, the non-foldable OPPO Find X5.

Singapore has become the fastest-growing market for the OPPO Find N3. This is significant given that the Find N3 retails for $2,399 and until recently, OPPO was not selling phones above $1,700.

OPPO has clearly pivoted into the premium space and is now intent on wooing users of bigger mobile phone players in the market.

Integration into lifestyles

According to OPPO’s customer research, over 80 per cent of Find N3 buyers were converts from flagship models released by other industry giants.

“Around 30 per cent are former midrange phone users who have upgraded their lifestyles to buy more high-end products,” says Zhou.

OPPO has embarked on a mission to grow awareness of its brand among high-net-worth individuals.

“In China, we are working on what we call 'high-end community building’,” says Zhou. “Many high-net-worth users in China attend MBA classes, run marathons, enjoy desert trekking and play golf.”

OPPO executives will enter the MBA classrooms to share their business strategy and students are also invited to visit OPPO offices to study the company’s operations. OPPO partners with mass scale marathons and desert treks (where people walk over 100km in the desert) to build its brand presence.

Singapore’s market is a tiny dot compared to China’s, but OPPO invests in community-building with the same zeal.

Empowering the wanderlust

“Singaporeans love to travel, so we enable them to take great photos with their phones while travelling,” says Zhou. “In the past, these premium users would rely on expensive branded cameras, so we worked with Hasselblad to integrate its photography expertise with the latest Sony image sensors.

The Find N3 boasts a revolutionary Stacked Pixel Architecture that takes in 140 per cent more light, resulting in photos with extremely fine detail and vibrant hues. Its three cameras shoot up to 64 megapixels and feature advanced algorithms from legendary camera brand Hasselblad for beautiful bokeh backgrounds in portraits. This means better, sharper and more vibrant photos from your holidays to post on social media, or even if you are simply rediscovering different parts of Singapore.   

OPPO has organised nature walks and visits to historical sites in Singapore, providing ample opportunity for customers to discover the vast capabilities of Find N3’s pro-grade cameras.

The foldable form factor also allows for new and convenient ways to take great photos and get work done.

Says Zhou: “Thanks to the external phone display, your photo subjects can see clearly how they look as you frame the image. They can adjust their pose before you press the shutter button.”

“The phone can also prop itself up in an L-shape and lets you take photos without any tripod. In the same manner, you can attend video calls without holding up your phone.”

For mobile warriors, the unfolded display also offers a multitasking experience known as “Boundless View”. You can use three full screen apps simultaneously, find files and apps easily and never slow down while on the go.

As durable as any flagship bar phone, a large 4800mAh battery lasts through the day and the 67W SUPERVOOCTM^TM fast charging technology juices up the phone with 80 per cent power within 30 minutes.

To OPPO, foldable phones are the future of the mobile industry.

The company’s intense efforts to perfect the flexible form factor has paid off to win the most demanding customers and pivot the brand into new spaces.

Adds Zhou: “Only by creating great products can you change consumer perceptions. We will continue to create products that exceed expectations and are better than the competition.”

Learn more about the Oppo Find N3 here.

Brought to you by Oppo