Oppo's UK much-delayed website, www.oppostore.co.uk, finally went live today – but what appeared wasn't quite what had been expected. In place of an online shop, there was a simple statement:
"After careful evaluation of the resources available, it has been determined that the release of the OPPO BDP-831 Blu-ray Disc player in Europe will be postponed indefinitely. It is with sincere regret that we have to make this difficult decision. However, we feel that this is in the best interest of our customers and quality standards.
"Customer support and satisfaction are the cornerstones of OPPO, and with the currently available resources, unfortunately we will not be able to equally serve all our European customers with the release of the BDP-831. Language barriers, shipping constraints, and our ability to quickly, efficiently, and accurately support our valuable European customers undermine the quality standards expected of OPPO.
"We apologize to the customers who love and support OPPO all along and have been waiting for the release of BDP-831 patiently, and hope we can come back with better planning and resources in the future to serve our customers the best."
We have spoken to Oppo's shop in Sweden, which has been selling the company's DVD players in Europe, and have had it confirmed that this statement is accurate.
The decision was made by Oppo HQ, and our contact in Sweden had also only received the news today.