Oppo India MD Yi Wang quits owing to increasing losses

Amidst the increasing losses and growing competition in the local market, Oppo Mobiles' India Managing Director, Yi Wang has resigned from his post.

In a statement, the company has confirmed that it has been mutually decided during a meeting between the board of directors of OPPO Mobiles India that Yi Wang, managing director of the company, will step down from his position effective 30th November, 2018.

According to sources, there was a pressure from the Oppo management on the India team as it was not able to get desired results at a time when Xiaomi captured the top position for almost a year in the country. The Chinese company's net loss has widened to Rs 358 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 42 crore a year ago, as per documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). It has reported a net loss of Rs 778 crore for the half year ending September 30, 2018.

Industry analysts largely attribute these losses to the company's huge marketing spends. The main reason behind the losses are huge spends even as returns are not coming in.

Last year Oppo entered into a five year contract worth Rs 10.8 billion with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for team India’s jersey rights. Besides, the brand has spent aggressively to establish its offline retail network

Oppo's shipments for the third quarter declined 7.1% to 2.9 million in the third quarter of 2018, but was still the fourth largest brand with a market share of 2.9%, as per IDC data. Industry watchers said Realme could replace Oppo to become the fourth largest standalone brand in the October-December quarter of 2018.

Reports say Oppo is planning to borrow Rs 350 crore (US$ 500 million) in the form of external commercial borrowing to support business operations and expansion.