Oppo's wacky $2400 Lamborghini Android phone

Phone maker Oppo has struck an exclusive deal with 2degrees for a NZ$2400 Lamborghini-branded Android phone. It is this seasons’ most expensive Android phone; at least in New Zealand. And the most ridiculous.

The Find X Automobili Lamborghini Edition is a version of the company’s already-expensive-by-Android-standards NZ$1500 Oppo Find X. The extra $900 buys you a fancy Lamborghini case and bumps the phone’s storage from 256 GB to 512 GB.

A similar storage upgrade with other phone brands costs around $300 to $400. This means, in effect, Oppo and 2degrees want $500 for a luxury case and a little brand cachet.

While it may not be official, you can buy external phone case covers with prestige brands printed on them for as little as $5 at places like Glenfield Night Market.

Sure, they’re not made of carbon fibre like the Find X Automobili Lamborghini Edition but come on, $500.

Lamborghini exclusive

It is an exclusive deal. Only 2degrees get this model. It will only be on sale for a limited time. I suspect that the other carriers didn’t get into a bidding war for the rights to the Lamborghini Edition.

Oppo isn’t the first phone brand to try attaching its products to a flash car brand. Huawei did something like this with a Porsche branded model. It sank without a trace.

Going by that experience 2degrees and Oppo might struggle to get sales into double figures.

What makes this extra curious is that until now Oppo’s entire sales pitch has been about offering value for money. The company manages to pack about 90 percent of the functionality and features of, say, a top-of-the-line Samsung model into a phone that sells for roughly half the price.

You could say that Oppo is the phone brand for phone owners who aren’t too fussy about brand. That statement may be hard, but it’s fair.

Pricey Oppo

While we’re on this point, Oppo is pushing it asking $1500 for the Find X. Look for a review of that phone on this site in the next few days.

The Find X may have a unique pop-up camera to avoid notches or a large bezel, but that price is on a par with the best phones from better known brands like Huawei and Samsung.

Phone makers have worked to increase prices, in part because profit margins are slender. It’s one thing for an established name to bump prices by $100 or so, but this is getting on for double the price of earlier Oppo models.

After all, this is a brand who’s New Zealand phone sales are measured in hundreds, not tens of thousands.

Which brings us to the point of the wacky Find X Automobili Lamborghini Edition. It isn’t about selling a $2400 phone. Its main aim is to get attention for the Oppo brand. I guess this post proved that strategy worked