The range of retailers such as MediaMarkt, Saturn, Otto and Co. will have to be reduced in the coming weeks. A court ruling is forcing retailers to withdraw several cell phone brands from sale.
Nokia has been in court with the Chinese company BBK for almost a year. BBK owns the smartphone brands Oppo, OnePlus, Realme and Vivo. The reason for the dispute are patent fees that Nokia demands from BBK for each device sold. A German court therefore banned the sale of smartphones on the manufacturers’ own websites last year until further notice. But now the dispute continues to escalate.
After the first court ruling, Oppo, OnePlus, Realme and Vivo stopped selling on their own websites and also largely stopped marketing in Germany. However, the smartphones are still easily available from retailers such as MediaMarkt and Co. Even models that have just been introduced, such as the new one One Plus 11.
In a further trial, the district court in Mannheim has once again ruled in favor of Nokia and is also prohibiting retailers from selling the device. Accordingly, MediaMarkt and Co. have to take the corresponding cell phones out of the sale. All smartphones from Oppo, OnePlus, Realme and Vivo are affected.
The following retailers are affected by the court ruling: Brodos, Komsa, Otto, Cyberport, Drillisch, 1&1, Logitel, Expert, Freenet, and MMS-E-Commerce (MediaMarkt and Saturn). Most retailers have already reacted to the verdict and removed the smartphone brands from their online range. In the coming week, the corresponding devices should also disappear from the shops.
Will Oppo, OnePlus and Co. disappear from Germany?
Rumors surfaced as early as March that Oppo and Co. wanted to withdraw completely from the German market. Other countries such as France, UK and the Netherlands should also be affected. We asked Oppo about the rumors at the time. In a statement to us at the time, Oppo assured us that it would remain loyal to the European market and continue to bring products to the market.
OPPO and OnePlus are committed to all the existing European markets. We had a great start in 2023 with the successful launches of several products in Europe and have a line-up of upcoming products for the rest of the year. As always, OPPO and OnePlus will continue to provide more innovative products and the best-in-class service for users moving forward.
Translated: “OPPO and OnePlus are committed to all existing European markets. We’ve had a great start to 2023 with the successful launch of several products in Europe and have a number of products planned for the remainder of the year. As always, OPPO and OnePlus will continue to provide more innovative products and the best service for users in the future.”
Ellie He (Oppo EU PR Team)
Despite denials, however, a withdrawal is now very likely. In their statements, both brands speak of “products” and not of smartphones. It is conceivable that Oppo, Realme and OnePlus will continue to sell accessories such as headphones or smartwatches in this country, but will give up their smartphone business.
As long as no agreement is reached with Nokia, the cell phones of the brands Oppo, OnePlus, Realme and Vivo will probably disappear from the market, at least in Germany. Other traders like Amazon have at least temporarily found a way to circumvent the sales ban. This is how the smartphones are officially sold through a dealer from Great Britain. It is still shipped from Germany.