OnePlus, which quickly rose to fame with its first-ever smartphone — OnePlus One, which was touted as the “flagship killer” by the company as it offered flagship-grade specifications at almost half the price of most of the flagship smartphones out there.
However, with time, the “flagship killer” itself became flagship phones and is now price almost on-par with the pricing of other flagship devices in the market and that seems to have resulted in lower sales.
Thus, the company has now planned to move back to its roots and will launch “quality products at a cheaper price.” Given that India is the biggest market for the company outside China, the devices will first get launched in India and then be available in other markets.
Pete Lau, Founder and CEO of OnePlus says that the company plans to launch affordable smartphones as well as expand its portfolio of products in new categories. The Chinese company has already entered the accessories and Smart TV market.
During his interview with Fast Company, Pete Lau said: “OnePlus is still a young brand. We are a company that’s constantly considering, evaluating, iterating, working on our strategy, continuing to improve our strategy to really be focused on creating a long-term, sustainable success.”
The company is set to launch a new OnePlus Z smartphone in July this year, which was earlier rumored to get launched as the OnePlus 8 Lite. Although the phone has been leaked several times, the company is yet to officially confirm details about this upcoming budget smartphone.