Oppo, Vivo send over 400 staff back to China as sales dwindle

More than 400 Chinese expatriates working for handset makers Oppo and Vivo are reportedly headed back home after sharp falls in July and August smartphone sales.

An Economic Times report links the development to the nearly three-month military standoff at the Dokalam tri-junction in the eastern Himalaya, which led to a drop in demand for Chinese phones. The standoff has just been resolved (See: Doklam standoff resolved; Chinese, Indian troops begin pullback)

Several of the exits involve the three-dozen Chinese-owned distribution companies of the two brands. Some recalls are also likely at the main subsidiaries of Oppo and Vivo in India, four industry executives told ET.

Vivek Zhang, the high-profile Chinese expat who negotiated and signed the Indian Premier League's title sponsorship deal for Vivo as its chief marketing officer, returned home earlier this month.

Industry executives attributed the exits to a 30-per cent year-on-year sales drop at both brands in July and August.

The drop in sales prompted the Chinese parent companies to reshuffle the local management and bring in new faces to help counter the anti-China wave in certain consumer markets. Buyer resistance in some parts of northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha has prompted the parent companies to restrict front-office roles for Chinese expats in the distribution establishments in these markets.

In Maharashtra and West Bengal, too, some distribution setups have seen similar exits, the ET report says.

Another reason for the recalls is the relatively short duration of visas granted to the Chinese employees. Hence, some of the expats may return when the Dokalam row settles, one of the executives said.

Vivo did not respond to an email from ET, while an Oppo India spokesman did not answer specific queries on the Chinese expats returning home, saying the company is not influenced by these 'market rumours'. "This year (2017) has been a great year so far for Oppo India and we are growing phenomenally year-on-year. The company will continue to provide the best camera phone, especially selfie-focused smartphone to the Indian youth," he said.

Chinese distributors - more than a dozen for Oppo and two dozen for Vivo - usually have three - four expats in each district of a state, monitoring visiting Indian executives. The Chinese would hire a building in the district headquarters and set up the distribution office and residential quarters for expats.

"The decision-making authority always remained with the expats, even in the districts where there were mostly junior-level staff. However, after the exit of so many Chinese employees, some autonomy has been given to Indian executives at the distributor level, with a mandate to revive sales," one executive told ET.

While Vivo Mobile India and Oppo Mobiles India are the main holding companies locally monitoring the businesses, the actual operations - right from the import of handsets to local distribution, marketing, sales and aftersales service - are handled by distribution companies, one each for a state or a region.

These companies function independently with separate profit and loss accounts, sales targets and budgets.

Top executives at both Oppo and Vivo had also met trade partners to understand the reason for the sudden drop in sales, and are seeking to increase the numbers in the festive season.

''Among the number of brands that have their origin in China - Xiaomi, Lenovo, Motorola and OnePlus - largely Oppo and Vivo have the consumer perception of being Chinese. So the anti-Chinese sentiments have had the maximum impact on them in several states, where even their outdoor hoardings have been pulled down. The entry of Xiaomi in offline retail has also hit these two brands," said the chief of a leading cellphone retail chain.

Another executive told ET Oppo and Vivo are trying to break this consumer perception by associating with Indian sports and celebrities through advertisements and also at various touch points, including web sites.

A recent report by market tracker CMR India said the smartphone war is now being fought among the Chinese brands in India rather than between the Chinese and Indian brands.

CMR said Xiaomi was the ace performer in the April-June quarter, taking the second slot with 16.2 per cent share. Market leader Samsung was at 18.7 per cent. Vivo was in the third place with 13.2 per cent, followed by Oppo at 9.2 per cent and Lenovo at 8.3 per cent.