As OPPO marks its 31st anniversary, founder and CEO Chen Mingyong shared his latest perspectives on corporate culture, AI transformation, and the company's forward trajectory in an internal address.

Discussing the company's cultural foundation, Chen noted that OPPO has continuously examined the power of its guiding principles. This year, the company has distilled its core value of "Benfen" into three key concepts: maintaining a calm mindset, grasping fundamentals, and thinking long-term. He emphasized that under pressure and temptation, it becomes even more crucial to return to these cultural roots and determine what constitutes the right course of action.

Among the three principles, Chen placed particular emphasis on grasping fundamentals. He believes that through deep consideration of product value, the company must identify the most essential and foundational value within its products and technologies, thereby creating offerings that resonate more strongly with consumers. "Looking ahead, the ability to grasp fundamentals will undoubtedly take root at OPPO," he stated.

Addressing widespread anxiety surrounding artificial intelligence, Chen argued that the industry has placed excessive focus on AI's role as an efficiency-enhancing tool. "The arrival of AI is more about unleashing people's productivity and creativity rather than merely boosting efficiency, and certainly not about replacing humans," he explained. "What we should truly consider is whether AI can solve problems that were previously insurmountable, and whether it can be applied to products and services to generate new value. If we only perceive efficiency gains, we have not truly understood the essence of AI."

Turning to innovation, Chen offered specific reflections: "We don't just encourage innovation—we must nurture it, using it to deliver more valuable products to users." Over the past two years, he has repeatedly stressed within the company that competitors should be considered last, while user needs and corresponding technological innovation should be prioritized. "Although business cannot escape competition, the essence of competition is not to imitate rivals or defeat them, but to accomplish what they cannot," he remarked.

Looking toward the future, Chen acknowledged the company's longevity: "We are already 31 years old this year, and we must go even further." In his view, "the AI era must remain human-centered, building an ecosystem of proactive services across multiple devices based on understanding user intent." He also reaffirmed that the company will continue to enhance support for innovation, grassroots creativity, and long-term technological investment.