Vivo Cannot Sell Its Phones In This European Market (Update)
Hadley Simmons / Android Authority
TL; Doctor
- After OnePlus and OPPO, Vivo also stopped sales on the German market due to a patent dispute with Finnish OEM Nokia.
- Vivo's German website does not list any products for sale. The company continues to serve customers for the products it has sold.
- vivo refers us to an old statement about it.
Update: June 12, 2023 (03:30 ET): vivo has yet to issue a new response on this matter, instead referring us to a translated statement released quietly on May 30.
The statement notes that the company was unable to reach an agreement with Nokia on the extension of the cross-licensing agreement. The press release also confirms the suspension of sales and marketing of the products in Germany. vivo also claims that after-sales service and software updates are not affected by this issue.
Original article: June 9, 2023 (08:44 ET): Last year, OPPO and OnePlus were banned from selling their phones in Germany due to a patent dispute against them. Now that Vivo is doing the same by removing its store page in Germany, consumers won't be able to buy Vivo smartphones in the country in the future.
The text in the image above roughly translates to:
Unfortunately, Vivo products are currently not available in Germany, so product information is not available on our German website. If you use Vivo products, you can continue to rely on our support. You will receive software updates in the future.
Vivo did not specifically say the reason for its store closures, or whether the move would be temporary or permanent. We have reached out to Vivo for a statement and will update the article once we hear from them.
WinFuture reports that the game is related to a patent dispute with Nokia (the Finnish OEM, not HMD Global, owner of the Nokia smartphone brand). Nokia accuses Vivo of infringing patents related to the WLAN connectivity of its smartphones. A German court ruled in favor of Nokia, so Vivo had to withdraw its products from the country. This is the same cause of action that also affects OnePlus and OPPO.
OPPO and OnePlus are reportedly considering exiting some European and UK markets. However, OPPO has clarified that it is not leaving the German market (or any other), but that operations in Germany have been suspended due to the ban. OPPO tried to discuss the same thing with Nokia in April 2023, though OPPO's German website remains empty as of this writing.
