Vivo Cannot Sell Its Phones In This European Market (Update)
Hadley Simmons/Android Authority
TL; Doctor
- After OnePlus and OPPO, Vivo has stopped selling in the German market due to a patent dispute with Finnish hardware supplier Nokia.
- Vivo's German website does not list any products for sale. The company continues to serve customers of products that have already been sold.
- Vivo referred us to a previous statement on the matter.
Update: June 12, 2023 (3:30 p.m. ET): Vivo has not released a new response on this matter, instead referring us to a return statement quietly released on May 30.
They said in the statement that the company was unable to reach an agreement with Nokia to extend the cross-licensing agreement. The press release confirms that the sale and marketing of the product in Germany has been discontinued. vivo also says that customer support and software updates are not affected by this issue.
Original Story: June 9, 2023 (8:44 AM ET): Last year, OPPO and OnePlus were banned from selling their phones in Germany due to a patent dispute against them. Vivo is now taking down its store page in Germany, preventing consumers from buying Vivo phones in the country for the foreseeable future.
The text in the image above roughly translates to:
Unfortunately, Vivo products are not available in Germany. Therefore, there is no product information on our German website. If you are using a direct product, you can have it with our support. You will receive future software updates.
vivo did not give a reason for closing its stores, nor did it clarify whether the change was temporary or permanent. We've reached out to Vivo for comment and will update the article as soon as we hear back.
WinFuture reports that the exit is related to a patent dispute with Nokia (a Finnish hardware supplier, not HMD Global, which owns the Nokia phone brand). Nokia accused Vivo of infringing a patent on its smartphone's Wi-Fi connectivity. The German court ruled in favor of Nokia and Vivo was forced to withdraw its products from the country. It's the same request that affected OnePlus and OPPO.
OPPO and OnePlus have considered leaving the UK and several European markets. However, OPPO has made it clear that it will not be pulling out of the German market (or anywhere else), however, they have suspended business in Germany due to a court order. As of April 2023, OPPO is trying to negotiate the same with Nokia, although OPPO's German website is still empty as of this writing.
