Yang Gu, Kashif Junaidi (Pasha), Akram Ali

OPPO and Pasha

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Yang Gu, Kashif Junaidi (Pasha), Akram Ali are the brand director South Asia / chairman / head of business development of OPPO / Pasha / Pro Pakistani. Gu has said the career began in China in advertising, digital marketing and public relations. Gu has said a move to the Eastern Europe region came with an Oppo PR manager role.

Career of Yang Gu

Gu has said the career began in China in advertising, digital marketing and public relations. Gu has said a move to the Eastern Europe region came with an Oppo PR manager role. Gu has also said the move to Pakistan came from a fondness for the market and its people. [1]

OPPO

Gu has said Oppo started in China in 2004. According to Gu, the company began by making MP3 players in China, and one of its Blu-ray players was among the top products in the European market. [1]

Gu has described Oppo as a technology company, not only a smartphone company. Gu has said Oppo has deep research strengths in audio, imaging, design and charging technology, spends a lot of time and effort researching the technology it is good at, and is strongly focused on design. Gu has also said Oppo has been stably among the top four smartphone brands in recent years. [1]

Gu has said Oppo entered Pakistan in 2014, before entering Europe. Gu has described the Pakistan market as huge, with a large population. Gu has said Oppo mainly targets young people and professional photography and videography users. [1]

Gu has said the F series, known as the selfie expert, was the first Oppo product to get a strong response in Pakistan. Gu has said people in the market like taking photos and selfies. Oppo later brought the Reno series to Pakistan, according to Gu. [1]

Foldable phone and air glass

Gu has said Oppo introduced its first foldable phone, the Oppo Find N, globally in the year before Gu spoke. Gu has said Oppo's air glass is close to commercialization, and that it is light and modular. The air glass can show real-time translation, according to Gu, though Gu has said its features are still conceptual. [1]

Gu has said real-time translation on the air glass works with two air glass units. Gu has also said the air glass features require a faster network. [1]

5G work

Gu has said Oppo has a team that works on 5G standards and a 5G lab with Ericsson. Gu has said Oppo is collaborating on 5G slicing and actively testing 5G in Europe. According to Gu, Oppo worked with Ericsson and Vodafone to test a pre-commercial 5G SA network at a UK university. [1]

Gu has said Oppo was the first to introduce a commercialized 5G phone, the Reno 5G, around 2019. Gu has said Oppo built an enterprise 5G slicing network with Qualcomm and Ericsson. Gu has said Oppo has invested in making its devices smarter so they connect easily to different operators' networks. Gu has also said a feature lets a 5G device connect to 5G and Wi-Fi together, giving about 28% faster speed and lower power consumption. [1]

Gu has said Oppo worked with operators on a project to test 5G speed and gather user feedback. Gu has said Oppo recently launched 5G in its mid-range F series with the F21 Pro 5G. [1]

Views of Yang Gu on 5G

Gu has said the main obstacles to 5G in Pakistan are 4G penetration and investment. Gu has said Pakistanis are passionate about new technology and open to what comes next. Gu has said 5G might be a game changer for Pakistan and that there is huge potential for 5G there. Gu has also said Pakistani users wanted 5G before Oppo launched it. [1]

Gu has said new technology sometimes triggers demand rather than following it. Gu has said people debated why 4G was needed about ten years ago, when 2G and 3G already existed. Gu has said 5G opens a new future and gives startups and enterprises a platform for new services. Gu has said it is the industry's duty to test new technology and push new things out. [1]

Gu has said European consumers are very conservative about new technology. Gu has said some European countries already have 5G and China is building 5G stations aggressively. Gu has said Korea and the UAE are also aggressive on 5G. [1]

Career of Akram Ali

Ali has said work at ProPakistani started in 2015. Ali does business development at ProPakistani and does tech reviews as a hobby. Ali has said Ali has digital marketing expertise. [1]

Ali has described working at an online store that sold brands such as Nike and Adidas, and handling its Amazon storefront. Ali has described using computers since the Pentium 4 era. [1]

ProPakistani

Ali has said ProPakistani has operated since 2008 and was started by one person on his own. Ali has said it began with five or ten people working from home and no office. Ali has said telecom companies call to confirm news. [1]

Pasha and Google study

Ali has said Pasha did a research study with Google. Ali has said the study is titled Unlocking Pakistan's Digital Potential and that its team included economists and statisticians hired in Singapore. Ali has said the study was launched with the President of Pakistan. According to Ali, the study concluded that 8 technologies in traditional sectors could create a $60 billion economy a year. [1]

Views of Akram Ali on 5G

Ali has said the government is set to launch 5G and only needs to hire a consultant and set the minimum bid price. Ali has said 5G was due in March 2023 and that the IT minister blamed political instability for the delay. Ali has said the global 5G rollout benchmark is 70% of users on 4G, and Pakistan is at 42%. Ali has said the Ministry of IT has been very progressive. [1]

Ali has described attending a 5G speed test held in a controlled environment and has said the test went quite well. Ali estimated the speed test took place one and a half to two years before Ali described it. Ali has suggested special technology zones, connected to 5G first, for business use, and experience zones for consumers, such as Blue Area in Islamabad or Mall Road. Ali has said the government should bring specialists together for a strategic dialogue. [1]

Ali has said the question is how soon Pakistan gets 5G, not whether. Ali has said Pakistan must decide whether to lead or follow in new technology, and that a long-term vision is needed. Ali has said the industry has to take the lead in creating 5G use cases. Ali has said the first use of any new technology is usually entertainment. [1]

Ali has described attending a conference in China where many 5G use cases were shown. Ali has described seeing a surgeon operate remotely from home using robotic arms, robotic arms picking up trash and sorting it for 24 hours a day, and drone cameras that identify faults at grid stations and electric poles. Ali has described wearing a 5G backpack for live coverage as a journalist. [1]

Ali has said Ali once thought of 5G only as faster YouTube videos. Ali has said people may not see why they need new technology, citing MRIs and CT scans in health tech. Ali has said 4G limits the number of devices, power use and data speeds. Ali has said better connectivity lets women who cannot easily go out deliver services from home. Ali has said Pakistan's doctors could stay home and still serve patients using technologies like 5G. [1]

Views of Akram Ali on the economy

Ali has said Pakistan is an agri-based economy with productivity far below global averages, and that Pakistan's agriculture productivity is far lower than regional and global competitors. Ali has said about 40% of Pakistan's population lives in rural areas. Ali has said Pakistan has a young population of digital natives. [1]

Ali has said services are Pakistan's fastest growing exports and that IT services has the highest trade surplus among Pakistan's exports. Ali has said Singapore exports over $370 billion a year, while Pakistan exports about $24 to $26 billion. Ali has said Oppo could do R&D with Pakistani universities. Ali has said people, businesses, SMEs, women entrepreneurs and youth need education on using these technologies. [1]

Ali has said blockchain and crypto technologies are a double-edged sword. Ali has said the world will change radically over the next three to four years. Ali has said Pakistan in 2050 could be economically stable and serve the world with high-value exports. [1]

Timeline

2004
Oppo started in China, according to Gu.[1]
2008
ProPakistani began operating, according to Ali.[1]
2014
Oppo entered Pakistan, according to Gu.[1]
2015
Ali started working at ProPakistani.[1]
2019
Oppo introduced the commercialized 5G phone Reno 5G, according to Gu.[1]
2023
Pakistan's 5G launch was due in March, according to Ali.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-07-04 Can 5G save Pakistan's economy? Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

What does Akram Ali do?

Akram Ali does business development at ProPakistani and does tech reviews as a hobby. Ali has said work at ProPakistani started in 2015, and that Ali has digital marketing expertise.[1]

When did Oppo enter Pakistan?

Yang Gu has said Oppo entered Pakistan in 2014, before entering Europe. Gu has said the F series was the first Oppo product to get a strong response in Pakistan.[1]

What has Yang Gu said about 5G in Pakistan?

Yang Gu has said the main obstacles to 5G in Pakistan are 4G penetration and investment. Gu has said 5G might be a game changer for Pakistan and that there is huge potential for 5G there.[1]

What did the Pasha and Google study find?

Akram Ali has said Pasha did a research study with Google, titled Unlocking Pakistan's Digital Potential. According to Ali, the study concluded that 8 technologies in traditional sectors could create a $60 billion economy a year.[1]

What has Akram Ali said about when Pakistan will get 5G?

Akram Ali has said 5G was due in March 2023 and that the IT minister blamed political instability for the delay. Ali has said the government is set to launch 5G and only needs to hire a consultant and set the minimum bid price.[1]

References

  1. Can 5G save Pakistan's economy? . Thought Behind Things , 2022-07-04.
Show the source passages (97 statements)
  1. Yang Gu has said the career started in China in advertising, digital marketing and public relations. So, previously, I started my career in China. So, I was in advertisement, digital marketing and public relationship back in China.
  2. Yang Gu has said a move to the Eastern Europe region came with an Oppo PR manager role. And then I moved to Eastern Europe region for Oppo PR manager role.
  3. Yang Gu has said the move to Pakistan came from a fondness for the market and its people. because I'm, you know, really pretty much fond of the market, fond of the people here. That's why I moved.
  4. Yang Gu has said Oppo started in China in 2004. Interesting fact is that like Oppo started in China like back in 2004.
  5. Yang Gu has said Oppo began by making MP3 players in China. when we first start, we were actually, you know, doing MP3 player back in China.
  6. Yang Gu has said one of Oppo's Blu-ray players was among the top products in the European market. previously, we were, you know, one of like our Blu-ray player actually was one of the top in the European market.
  7. Yang Gu has said Oppo is a technology company, not only a smartphone company. actually we're not only a smartphone company. We are a technology company.
  8. Yang Gu has said Oppo has deep research strengths in audio, imaging, design and charging technology. we have, you know, very deep research and development strengths in a lot of fields like, like I mentioned audio, and also right now today we're going to talk about 5G and also imaging technology, design and also charging technology.
  9. Yang Gu has said Oppo has been stably among the top four smartphone brands in recent years. but we are like recent years, we are like stably among the top four smartphone brands.
  10. Yang Gu has said Oppo entered Pakistan in 2014, before entering Europe. We came here relatively early. Um, we were here like first in 2014, like 10 years after we born. So, we just choose Pakistan and we enter here like way before we enter the other market like Europe.
  11. Yang Gu has said the F series, known as the selfie expert, was the first Oppo product to get a strong response in Pakistan. the first device we, you know, receive very good response is the F series because, you know, F series was known as the selfie expert.
  12. Yang Gu has said Oppo later brought the Reno series to Pakistan. And then later, we started to bring Reno series as well and more like very exciting technology kind of product here.
  13. Yang Gu has said people in the market like taking photos and selfies. people here like we can see that they like taking photos, they like taking selfies.
  14. Yang Gu has said the Pakistan market is huge, with a large population. actually the market here is huge. Like we have a huge population here.
  15. Yang Gu has said Oppo mainly targets young people and professional photography and videography users. we mostly target uh, the young people for like without F series product and also the profession, those who is fond of professional photography and videography without Reno product.
  16. Yang Gu has said Oppo spends a lot of time and effort researching the technology it is good at. because we always produce like higher quality device and we spend a lot of time and effort into researching the technology that we are, you know, really um, good at.
  17. Yang Gu has said Oppo introduced its first foldable phone, the Oppo Find N, globally last year. last year, actually, we have globally we have introduced our first uh, foldable phone. So, basically this foldable phone, uh, we call it Oppo Find N.
  18. Yang Gu has said Oppo's air glass is close to commercialization. Uh, it's actually not the first air glass that we are introducing. Uh, but it is the one which is really close to commercialization.
  19. Yang Gu has said the air glass is light and modular. But this air glass is very light and it attaches Or it's it's modular essentially.
  20. Yang Gu has said the air glass can show real-time translation. it can achieve like uh, translation, real-time translation.
  21. Yang Gu has said the air glass features are still conceptual. Uh, right now the features are, you know, still conceptual.
  22. Yang Gu has said real-time translation on the air glass works with two air glass units. our direction is actually if you have two air glass, you can do the real-time translate.
  23. Yang Gu has said the air glass features require a faster network. Yes. Yes. It requires faster network.
  24. Yang Gu has said Oppo has a team that works on 5G standards. first is we have a standardized team uh particularly doing the 5G standardized work.
  25. Yang Gu has said Oppo has a 5G lab with Ericsson. For example, like we have a 5G lab with Ericsson.
  26. Yang Gu has said Oppo is collaborating on 5G slicing and actively testing 5G in Europe. So we have joined, you know, collaborating in terms of like 5G slicing technology like that and we are actively testing out in Europe.
  27. Yang Gu has said European consumers are very conservative about new technology. when we see Europe, like Europe market in terms of general public, people are very conservative, you know, to new technology.
  28. Yang Gu has said it is the industry's duty to test new technology and push new things out. it's still the duty of the industry to test the new technology out and you know, push out the the new things
  29. Yang Gu has said Oppo was the first to introduce a commercialized 5G phone, the Reno 5G, around 2019. we were the first to introduce a commercialized 5G phone that was Reno 5G, I remember, like back in 2019.
  30. Yang Gu has said Oppo worked with Ericsson and Vodafone to test a pre-commercial 5G SA network at a UK university. we are also collaborating with Ericsson and Vodafone. We test out the first uh uh pre-commercialized like 5G uh network, SA network in uh one of the university in UK.
  31. Yang Gu has said Oppo built an enterprise 5G slicing network with Qualcomm and Ericsson. together with Qualcomm and Ericsson, we built another like, you know, uh uh enterprise level uh 5G slicing network again to test out test it out.
  32. Yang Gu has said Oppo has invested in making its devices smarter so they connect easily to different operators' networks. we have invested a lot of efforts just to make the device smarter and it can be easily connected to different type of operators network.
  33. Yang Gu has said a feature lets a 5G device connect to 5G and Wi-Fi together, giving about 28% faster speed and lower power consumption. that allows your 5G device to connect to both 5G and Wi-Fi to provide like better uh speed, let's say, like uh 28% actually like faster speed and lower power consumption as well.
  34. Yang Gu has said the main obstacles to 5G in Pakistan are 4G penetration and investment. the key obstacles um is that of course like the 4G penetration and the investment.
  35. Yang Gu has said Pakistanis are passionate about new technology and open to what comes next. especially people here are so passionate of new technology and we'll tend to be more open to what is coming next.
  36. Yang Gu has said 5G might be a game changer for Pakistan. So in my opinion, I think 5G might be the next big changer, like game changer in Pakistan
  37. Yang Gu has said new technology sometimes triggers demand rather than following it. it sometimes triggers the demand. It's not uh the demand came far first and then the new technology comes, right?
  38. Yang Gu has said people debated why 4G was needed about ten years ago, when 2G and 3G already existed. when we look at 10 years back, like we can't imagine like, you know, like 10 years back, we I believe like we're also in in the discussion of why we need 4G, like we already have 3G, we already have 2G.
  39. Yang Gu has said 5G opens a new future. So I think 5G actually opens a new future for us.
  40. Yang Gu has said 5G gives startups and enterprises a platform for new services. it provides this kind of like platform for the new technology to reach like the startup or the enterprise
  41. Yang Gu has said some European countries already have 5G and China is building 5G stations aggressively. Some some European countries like is already there. And China like is very aggressively building 5G stations right now.
  42. Yang Gu has said Oppo worked with operators on a project to test 5G speed and gather user feedback. when 5G was quite new to China before, like Oppo was also, you know, starting this kind of spark project with all of the operators so that we can test out the speed and also uh hear from the users
  43. Yang Gu has said Korea and the UAE are also aggressive on 5G. And also Korea, also very aggressive on 5G as well. So uh UAE also.
  44. Yang Gu has said there is huge potential for 5G in Pakistan. and step even far more ahead because I can see huge potential here
  45. Yang Gu has said Oppo recently launched 5G in its mid-range F series with the F21 Pro 5G. recently we have launched our 5G in the mid-range in the F series, F21 Pro 5G
  46. Yang Gu has said Pakistani users wanted 5G before Oppo launched it. Even before we launching the 5G is people want 5G here.
  47. Yang Gu has said Oppo is strongly focused on design. Because like Oppo, we are pretty much into design.
  48. Akram Ali has said work at ProPakistani started in 2015. I started working in ProPakistani back in 2015.
  49. Akram Ali has described working at an online store that sold brands such as Nike and Adidas, and handling its Amazon storefront. I used to work for a uh, for a store, uh, like it we used to sell these online uh, merchants, uh, merchant merchandise like Nike, Adidas, uh, and I used to work on Amazon, so I used to handle the storefront.
  50. Akram Ali has said they have digital marketing expertise. So I have a digital marketing expertise
  51. Akram Ali does business development at ProPakistani and does tech reviews as a hobby. at ProPakistani, apart from the business development thing, I do the tech reviews and it's my hobby.
  52. Akram Ali has described using computers since the Pentium 4 era. when I uh, when I started using computer, it was a Pentium 4 era
  53. Akram Ali has said ProPakistani began with five or ten people working from home and no office. we were just like 5, 10 people working from home and there was no office.
  54. Akram Ali has said ProPakistani has operated since 2008 and was started by one person on his own. ProPakistani has been uh there since 2008 and Aamir bhai started it on his own
  55. Akram Ali has said telecom companies call to confirm news. telcos guys like they call me and confirm the news
  56. Akram Ali has said the government is set to launch 5G and only needs to hire a consultant and set the minimum bid price. government side is uh, more of uh, like they are all set to launch it. All they have to do is hire a consultant and uh set the minimum bid price.
  57. Akram Ali has said 5G was due in March 2023 and that the IT minister blamed political instability for the delay. It it was supposed to happen in March 2023, but political instability has caused delays and this was said by IT minister by the way.
  58. Akram Ali has said the global 5G rollout benchmark is 70% of users on 4G, and Pakistan is at 42%. for the global 5G rollout, you need to have 70% of 4G users. In Pakistan, we have 42%.
  59. Akram Ali has described attending a 5G speed test held in a controlled environment. I was there. Yeah, and so I was there in that test. So it was in controlled environment.
  60. Akram Ali has said the 5G test went quite well. they did quite well because it was like in controlled environment, tested and everything.
  61. Akram Ali estimated the speed test took place one and a half to two years before the interview. I think one and a half or two years back.
  62. Akram Ali has suggested special technology zones, connected to 5G first, for business use. one of our suggestions is that to create special technology zones. Right. And I think there could be another option that those zones can at least be 5G connected to start off.
  63. Akram Ali has said the Ministry of IT has been very progressive. Ministry of IT is has been super progressive
  64. Akram Ali has said blockchain and crypto technologies are a double-edged sword. I think all of these technologies have a they're more like a double-edged sword.
  65. Akram Ali has said the government should bring specialists together for a strategic dialogue. the government needs to probably bring together the specialists on a table, have a strategic dialogue and come up with a solution on how best to sort this out.
  66. Akram Ali has said the question is how soon Pakistan gets 5G, not whether. There's no question that we will not have it. The question is how soon can we get it?
  67. Akram Ali has said Pakistan must decide whether to lead or follow in new technology. So it's totally up to us to take lead or be a follower again at some point in time.
  68. Akram Ali has said Pakistan has a young population of digital natives. They are digital natives. We do not have a a aging population.
  69. Akram Ali has said a long-term vision is needed. But I think we need to have a long-term vision here.
  70. Akram Ali has said people may not see why they need new technology, citing MRIs and CT scans in health tech. People wouldn't understand why they need the MRIs and the CT scans when there were X-rays.
  71. Akram Ali has said the industry has to take the lead in creating 5G use cases. So of course, the industry has to take lead there and create use cases because people will then understand how they can benefit from such technologies.
  72. Akram Ali has said Pakistan is an agri-based economy with productivity far below global averages. We are an agri-based economy. We we are a lot of our industries productivity is far lower than global averages.
  73. Akram Ali has said about 40% of Pakistan's population lives in rural areas. consider 40% of our population is in rural areas.
  74. Akram Ali has described seeing a surgeon operate remotely from home using robotic arms. I've seen a surgeon performing surgery remotely sitting in uh his own house through robotic arms.
  75. Akram Ali has described seeing robotic arms picking up trash and sorting it, working 24 hours a day. They were uh you know, picking up trash and they used to work for 24 hours non-stop
  76. Akram Ali has described seeing drone cameras that identify faults at grid stations and electric poles. these drone cameras which used to identify the issues at grid stations and electric poles where human uh lives were in danger
  77. Akram Ali has described attending a conference in China where many 5G use cases were shown. I went to a conference in uh China and I have seen a lot of use cases.
  78. Akram Ali has described wearing a 5G backpack for live coverage as a journalist. being a journalist, we need DSNGs and a lot of uh expensive equipment to get things done, to get the live coverage. There was a 5G backpack which I wore
  79. Akram Ali has said they once thought of 5G only as faster YouTube videos. when I think 5G, I just think faster YouTube videos, right?
  80. Akram Ali has said Pasha did a research study with Google. recently, uh at Pasha, we did a research with Google.
  81. Akram Ali has said the Pasha and Google study is titled Unlocking Pakistan's Digital Potential. it's available online uh by the title of Unlocking Pakistan's Digital Potential.
  82. Akram Ali has said the study team included economists and statisticians hired in Singapore. we did hire professional economists and statisticians in Singapore uh with Google and and we did a full blown study.
  83. Akram Ali has said the study was launched with the President of Pakistan. And actually we launched it with the President of Pakistan.
  84. Akram Ali has said the study concluded that 8 technologies in traditional sectors could create a $60 billion economy a year. if Pakistan deploys 8 technologies in their traditional sectors, in our traditional sectors like Agri tech and and and uh textiles and all of those, Pakistan can create a new economy of $60 billion every year.
  85. Akram Ali has said Pakistan's agriculture productivity is far lower than regional and global competitors. Similarly, our productivity in agri sector is far lower than our regional and global competitors.
  86. Akram Ali has said 4G limits the number of devices, power use and data speeds. You can't do it on 4G. There's a limitation on number of devices, there's a limitation on power consumption, there's a limitation on data speeds.
  87. Akram Ali has said the first use of any new technology is usually entertainment. with every new technology the first use case is entertainment as you mentioned.
  88. Akram Ali has said better connectivity lets women who cannot easily go out deliver services from home. especially girls and women who for many reasons can't really go out, can still deliver and add to the economy.
  89. Akram Ali has suggested experience zones for consumers, such as Blue Area in Islamabad or Mall Road. I think we need to create experience zones for consumers as well. Maybe blue area in Islamabad, maybe Mall Road
  90. Akram Ali has said the world will change radically over the next three to four years. I feel like we haven't even touched Web 3.0 uh in this conversation because the fact is the world is going to really radically change over the next three to four years
  91. Akram Ali has said Oppo could do R&D with Pakistani universities. this is an opportunity for the likes of Oppo to actually start doing R&D with our universities
  92. Akram Ali has said services are Pakistan's fastest growing exports. Our fastest growing exports is services exports.
  93. Akram Ali has said IT services has the highest trade surplus among Pakistan's exports. Services and especially IT services is the only highest trade surplus exports, which means you don't need to import much.
  94. Akram Ali has said Singapore exports over $370 billion a year, while Pakistan exports about $24 to $26 billion. Singapore is also half of Lahore by population. It's just 5 million people. Their exports per year is $370 billion, over $370 billion. Pakistan's exports per year is around $24-26 billion.
  95. Akram Ali has said Pakistan's doctors could stay home and still serve patients using technologies like 5G. Why can't our other doctors stay here and still serve using technologies like 5G or other improvements.
  96. Akram Ali has said people, businesses, SMEs, women entrepreneurs and youth need education on using these technologies. we need to educate our uh people, we need to educate our businesses, our SMEs, our women entrepreneurs, our youth on how to leverage these technologies in a positive way.
  97. Akram Ali has said Pakistan in 2050 could be economically stable and serve the world with high-value exports. So I certainly see a better Pakistan 2050 uh which is more stable economically, sustainable and which is serving the rest of the world with high value exports