LONDON: Chinese smartphone major OPPO has become the first official smartphone partner of Wimbledon tennis championships, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) announced on Thursday.
OPPO, a Chinese smartphone brand loved by Millennials, signed a five-year deal with AELTC at the Champions Room of the world’s most famous tennis tournament, Xinhua news agency reports.
The partnership represents the Chinese company’s first move into tennis after associations as official mobile phone partner to FC Barcelona and the International Cricket Council (ICC).
OPPO will join an exclusive list of just 14 other companies that are able to call themselves the “official supplier” of the annual Wimbledon Championships.
Others include tennis ball brand Slazenger (since 1902), Robinsons soft drinks (since 1935), IBM (since 1990), champagne brand Lanson (since 2001), US clothing brand Ralph Lauren (since 2006), British car brand Jaguar Land Rover (since 2015), Swiss watch brand Rolex (since 1978) and American Express (starting this year).
Brian Shen, vice president of OPPO, said: “We are thrilled to announce we are the first Asian partner of The Championships, Wimbledon .. We are confident this partnership will further strengthen our expansion plans across the European marketplace and in turn our communication globally.”
Mick Desmond, commercial and media director of AELTC, said: “We are delighted to welcome OPPO to the family of official suppliers to The Championships and we very much look forward to seeing the OPPO smartphones bring Wimbledon’s iconic beauty to life for our audiences around the world.”
The partnership will help “OPPO grow their presence in key developing markets,” the Chinese company said in a statement. “OPPO will use the strength of the Wimbledon brand to grow its presence across the UK and Europe, and demonstrates the determination of a long-term investment in the market.”
“AELTC will benefit from OPPO’s considerable brand strength to grow the reach of Wimbledon in markets that OPPO covers, particularly China,” the statement said.
It said that an “OPPO Breakthrough Award” will also be presented from this year’s tournament to young players who make major breakthroughs.
OPPO will also play a significant role in support of the professional grass court season and the promotion of the AELTC’s grass court strategy, which aims to provide enhanced opportunities for juniors to compete on grass courts at all stages of their development, “with the ultimate aim of becoming a Wimbledon champion”, it said.
