Secretive Billionaire Reveals How He Toppled Apple in China

  • Duan Yongping co-founded top Chinese brands Oppo and Vivo
  • "China’s Buffett" still regards Apple as a great investment

Meet the Billionaire Who Stung Apple in China Last Year

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Duan Yongping is convinced Tim Cook didn’t have a clue who he was when they first met a couple years ago. The Apple boss probably does now.

Duan is the reclusive billionaire who founded Oppo and Vivo, the twin smartphone brands that dealt the world’s largest company a stinging defeat in China last year. Once derided as cheap iPhone knockoffs, they leapfrogged the rankings and shoved Apple Inc. out of the top three in 2016 -- when iPhone shipments fell in China for the first time.