Smartphone maker OPPO has been awarded the 2019 Top Brand in the Mobile Phone Category by Consumer New Zealand, highlighting the brand's continued success locally. OPPO are one of Asia's top brands, and they have quickly made an impact on New Zealand's market.

Upon hearing the news, I mentioned it to my wife, who gets to listen to me rave about my favourite review items. Her response was “I'm not surprised.” That's OK, I'm excited enough for the both of us. Last year I asked some resellers their honest opinion of OPPO as a brand and I suspect they won't be surprised either.  Here's the text from OPPO's press release, which also highlights a few changes to OPPO's leadership. 
 
OPPO's managing director Morgan Halim says, “We are delighted to be named a Consumer NZ Top Brand. The accolade is a true testament to our brand ethos and reinforces exactly what OPPO as a customer-centric business has set out to do. That is to create products that consumers genuinely love.”
 
“As a relatively young brand in the New Zealand market, to stand alongside only a select number of companies that hold a Top Brand title is an incredibly humbling achievement,” adds Halim.
 
Only 16 brands in New Zealand carry a Consumer Top Brand title across several appliance and technology categories, and there is not always a winner. The category honour hasn't been awarded to a smartphone brand since 2017 and OPPO is one of only four brands to receive it overall.
 
Consumer's Top Brand Award carries strict review criteria across three variables: consumer test results, customer satisfaction, and reliability. OPPO came out on top in the customer research findings with over 83% of OPPO customers “very satisfied” with their mobile phone; significantly more than the industry average. OPPO models were also found to have excellent reliability, with 99% having no faults. 
 
Consumer's head of testing Paul Smith says, “OPPO was a clear standout for 2019. This is a challenger brand in a competitive market, bringing an enviable edge and new innovations. We couldn't fault OPPO in our testing and the results ask other mobile phone brands to step up.”
 
The news lands just as OPPO makes a series of new appointments to expand and bolster its team. Morgan Halim has been appointed to managing director (following his previous role as sales director), while Daimler Teves has joined in a newly created role as marketing director, alongside a number of other key sales recruits.

I'm not surprised by Consumer NZ's appraisal of OPPO. Their dedication to development and their determination to provide superior product that's innovative, stylish and reliable, has also earned my admiration.

In 2019 they managed to keep me busy writing about some of their latest products, only to find something even more innovative was planned for later.

I was fortunate enough to meet some of OPPO's team last year and was impressed by their passion and dedication to making OPPO as popular in New Zealand as it already is in Asia. They are also a very friendly and knowledgeable group of people. I'd go as far as opining that OPPO's latest recognition is both well-deserved and well earned.