Oppo hosted a fast charging technology conference in China last week. At the event, the company spoke about its latest developments, which are aimed primarily at making charging not only fast, but also safe. In particular, it talked about a helium nitride switch, microcircuits for battery safety control, a sandwich-type safe battery and other developments.
At the conclusion of the conference, the head of Oppo’s fast charger business was interviewed by the media in which he stated that the charging power is not infinite. Now the task is to improve or squeeze the maximum out of what has already been created.
The company has a 125W fast charger, which they introduce a year ago. But until today, the company has not released a smartphone that can be charged at this power; and the charging adapter itself. The maximum charging power that can be found in Oppo smartphones is 65W.
125W fast charging is unsafe and needs tinkering
Naturally, the journalists asked the top manager of the company why they are delaying the release of devices with support for 125W charging. And this is the answer they heard:
“To release mass production, there is no problem now, but we are still not satisfied with the status quo, so we have not reached mass production. This dissatisfaction refers to the need to use high rate cells, in the same case the battery capacity is small, the poor battery life. To do a good job of endurance, and will lead to the phone becomes bulky, which is not acceptable to our technology and product side, so the need for battery technology progress. Then there is the problem of high-strength safety hazards brought about by the higher chemical reaction activity of the high rate battery”.
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In fact, he confirmed fears that fast charging does increase battery wear; which is especially noticeable when its capacity is small. To give a lot of milliamperes means to increase the thickness of the smartphone; and this is unacceptable in the current conditions. To find the right balance, it is necessary to improve modern batteries; as well as to seriously pump the safety of power supplies.
Oppo and its subsidiaries rank second in the smartphone market in May, overtaking Apple
According to Counterpoint Technology Market Research, in May, Oppo is estimated to have come out on top in the global smartphone market, ahead of Apple. The share of Oppo was 16% against 15% for the “apple” empire. Xiaomi is in fourth place with 14%. Interestingly, according to other analysts, Xiaomi came out on top in the second quarter, overtaking Apple.
However, we must emphasize that Counterpoint statistics take into account sales not only of Oppo itself; but also of the company’s subsidiaries. These are devices of the premium level OnePlus, as well as affordable smartphones of the independent brand Realme.
If we consider the supply of exclusively Oppo smartphones; then their share in the world market at the end of May was about 10%. In this regard, the company is inferior to both Apple and Xiaomi. Realme’s share is 5%, while OnePlus has 1% of the market.
The largest player in the global industry is South Korean giant Samsung. True, Counterpoint did not disclose the share of this company.
