Oppo joins the Foldable party
Chinese phone maker Oppo, last week, introduced the new N Find, its first attempt at the Foldables category. The new N Find’s design is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3, though considerably smaller. The new Find N has a 5.49-inch outer screen (versus the Fold 3’s 6.2-inch display) but its 18:9 aspect ratio makes it feel more like a regular bar-shaped smartphone versus the Fold 3 when closed. The N Find’s unfolded real estate is also smaller (7.1-inch versus 7.6-inch), but the 15:14 square-like aspect ratio offsets the size disadvantage. Where the Find N truly stands out is its fold mechanism engineering that allowed Oppo to practically disappear the crease in the center folding line. The N Find also shines with its price tag (starting at roughly $1200) compared to the Galaxy Fold 3’s $1500 starting price, though this will not be an issue for Samsung in any market besides China as Oppo revealed that it has no plans of selling the phone outside of China.
The NPD Take:
- The Oppo N Find’s no-crease folding design and attractive price point shows that the foldables market possesses the potential to grow beyond the small-niche state it is in right now. According to NPD’s Mobile Phone POS tracking service, the foldable category accounts for less than 2% of total phone activations in the national retail market, but 20% of consumers are showing high interest in the category for their future device upgrades.
- Oppo has recently taken over the management of the OnePlus brand, which has been building equity in the US market. Considering US carriers’ eagerness in finding new OEM partners following LG’s departure, Oppo/OnePlus would not have a hard time finding an “exclusive” U.S. launch partner should they decide to ship the phone over to the U.S.
StraightTalk phones go unlocked
According to Tracfone’s new Terms and Conditions page listed on its website, the MVNO, which previously did not allow customers to unlock their phones before 12-months of service, is now allowing all phones purchased and activated with new Straight Talk Service on the Verizon network on or after November 23, 2021, to be unlocked within 60 days of activation. In the case of the Apple iPhones, the unlocking process will be done automatically after the 60th day, while Android-powered phones activated on or after November 23, 2021, can be unlocked by request (with Straight Talk will provide an unlocking code).
The NPD Take:
- Now that Tracfone is a full subsidiary of Verizon, its unlocking policy is also subject to Verizon’s FCC-enforced protocol calling for unlocking within 60 days of activation. It is noteworthy to mention that this protocol was changed (in favor of Verizon) a little over two years ago when the carrier had to sell its LTE-powered phones unlocked in the first place as part of a spectrum deal it struck with the FCC.
- StraightTalk’s reduced 60-day device unlocking policy is not an ideal situation for the carrier considering the high-churn prepaid environment that houses many price-sensitive customers constantly looking for deals. The new policy will likely foster StraighTalk (and all other Tracfone brands) to push more aggressively with multi-month service plans, which are gaining popularity in the market. According to NPD Connected Intelligence’s Mobile Connectivity Survey, close to half of prepaid customers show high interest in multi-month service plans in return for discounts.