(Yicai Global) Jan. 10 -- China's Oppo Electronics, the world's fifth-largest smartphone maker by output, plans to start selling its products in the UK following in the footsteps of rival compatriots Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies.

The Dongguan-based company yesterday announced a launch event for Jan. 29  via a new twitter account that targets the UK. The firm's UK website is under construction, but which models Oppo will sell in the country remains to be seen.

Two possibilities are the R17 Pro released in Europe recently and the Find X Oppo first introduced in the region, according to the Ithome website run by Qingdao Ruanmei Network Technology. Oppo released the Find X at the Louvre Museum in Paris on June 19 and the R17 Pro in Milan, Italy on Nov. 6, accompanied by an announcement that it would locate a design center in London.

China's handset brands are turning their attention to the UK, the next logical market after Europe and the US, in search of new growth opportunities after their home market became saturated. 

Oppo, which supplies products and services in over 30 countries and regions, took fifth place in the global handset sweepstakes in the third quarter with almost 30 million phones sold, behind Samsung, Huawei, Apple and Xiaomi, according to a report by IDC. The firm founded a research and development center in Hyderabad, India on Dec. 15.

Founded in April, the Oppo Research Institute has six centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Yokohama, Japan and the US Silicon Valley studying software, hardware and mobile standards, and conducting novel research into fifth-generation mobile networks, artificial intelligence, image processing, new materials and new technologies.

Editor: Ben Armour