OnePlus

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OnePlus Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
Native name
一加科技
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryConsumer electronics
Founded16 December 2013; 7 years ago (2013-12-16)
FoundersCarl Pei
Pete Lau
HeadquartersTairan Building,
Futian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong
,
China
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ProductsSmartphones
Earphones
Powerbanks
OxygenOS
HydrogenOS
Phone cases
Shirts
Bags
Televisions
Smart Watch
Number of employees
2700+ (2019)
ParentBBK Electronics
Oppo
OnePlus Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
Simplified Chinese深圳市万普拉斯科技有限公司
Traditional Chinese深圳市萬普拉斯科技有限公司
OnePlus
Chinese一加
Literal meaningOnePlus
WebsiteOnePlus
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3][4][5]

OnePlus Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (一加科技) is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in the Tairan Building (泰然大厦) at the Chegong Temple (车公庙) subdistrict of Futian District.[6] It was founded by Pete Lau and Carl Pei in December 2013, and is currently majority-owned by Oppo as its only shareholder, which is a subsidiary of BBK Electronics along with Vivo, Realme and iQOO. The company is best known for making smartphones, and officially serves 34 countries and regions around the world as of July 2018.[2]

History[]

OnePlus One

OnePlus was founded on 16 December 2013 by former Oppo vice-president Pete Lau and Carl Pei.[7] According to Chinese public records, OnePlus' only institutional shareholder is Oppo Electronics.[4] Lau denied that OnePlus was a wholly owned subsidiary of Oppo and stated that Oppo Electronics and not Oppo Mobile (the phone manufacturer) is a major investor of OnePlus and that they are "in talks with other investors",[8] although OnePlus has confirmed it uses Oppo's manufacturing line and shares part of the supply chain resources with Oppo.[9] The company's main goal was to design a smartphone that would balance high-end quality with a lower price than other phones in its class, believing that users would "Never Settle" for the lower-quality devices produced by other companies. Lau explained that "we will never be different just for the sake of being different. Everything done has to improve the actual user experience in day-to-day use."[10][11] He also showed aspirations of being the "Muji of the tech industry", emphasizing its focus on high-quality products with simplistic, user-friendly designs.[10] Continuing Lau's association with the platform from the Oppo N1,[11] OnePlus entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Cyanogen Inc. to base its products' Android distribution upon a variant of the popular custom ROM CyanogenMod and use its trademarks outside of China.[12][13]

The company unveiled its first device, the OnePlus One, on 23 April 2014 which was intended to capture market from the Google Nexus series.[10] In December 2014, alongside the release of the OnePlus One in India exclusively through Amazon, OnePlus also announced plans to establish a presence in the country, with plans to open 25 official walk-in service centers across India.[14]

In April 2014, OnePlus hired Han Han to help market its products in mainland China.[15]

On 9 March 2014, the company expanded its operations to the European Union.[16]

On 16 December 2014, The Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court banned the import and sale of OnePlus One phones following a lawsuit by Micromax alleging it has exclusivity for shipping phones with Cyanogen OS software in India.[17] On 21 December 2014, the ban was lifted. The device continues to be shipped with Cyanogen OS; however, a customized version of Android specially designed by OnePlus and named OxygenOS has been released, allowing later OnePlus devices to be sold in India.[18][19]

OnePlus made its products available in Southeast Asia for the first time, partnering with Lazada Indonesia[20] on 23 January 2015 and was expected to expand during that year throughout the region. In June 2016, OnePlus decided to pull out of the Indonesian market due to local regulations for imported 4G smartphones restricting sales of the OnePlus 2.[21]

At the launch event of the OnePlus 6 on 17 May 2018, OnePlus announced it would be opening five new OnePlus Experience stores in India, as well as 10 new service centers.[22]

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, OnePlus topped the Indian premium smartphone market last year with a 33 percent share, beating Samsung Electronics with 26 percent. In the IDC survey, OnePlus ranked third in India's market with more than $500 in the first quarter of this year after Apple and Samsung Electronics. And it ranked second after China's Vivo in the 300-500-dollar market.[23]

On 16 October 2020, Carl Pei resigned as director of OnePlus.[24][25]

In 2021 Oppo and OnePlus combined their hardware research teams via OPlus.[26]

In July 2021 OnePlus Merges OxygenOS With Oppo's ColorOS, Both companies’ software will remain separate and continue to serve their individual regions (OxygenOS for OnePlus phones globally, ColorOS on OnePlus and Oppo devices in China) but share a common codebase, which OnePlus says should standardize its software experience and streamline the development process for future OxygenOS updates.[27][28]

Advertising and marketing[]

Invitation system[]

Early phones were only available through a system whereby customers had to sign up for an invitation, which OnePlus called an invite, to purchase the phone at irregular intervals. The system was claimed to be necessary for the young company to manage huge demand.[29] OnePlus ended the invitation system with the launch of OnePlus 3 on 14 June 2016.[30] Announced via an interactive VR launch event, the OnePlus 3 initially went on sale within the VR app itself. OnePlus touted the event as the world's first VR shopping experience.[31] The phone was made available for sale later that day in China, North America and the European Union on the OnePlus website, and in India on Amazon India.[16]

"Smash the Past"[]

On 23 April 2014, OnePlus began its "Smash the Past" campaign.[32] The promotion asked selected participants to destroy their phones on video in an effort to purchase the OnePlus One for $1 (US). Due to confusion, several videos were published by unselected users misinterpreting the promotion and destroying their phones before the promotion start date.[33][34] OnePlus later revised the rules of their promotion by allowing consumers to donate their old phones.[35] There were 140,000 entrants in the contest with 100 winners.[35]

OnePlus Playback[]

OnePlus Playback is a series of music videos in collaboration with popular Indian singers, beginning in 2018 .[36][37]

Brand ambassador[]

In May 2019, OnePlus made a deal with ‘Avengers’ actor Robert Downey Jr. to endorse OnePlus 7 Pro. Before him, it was Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan who used to endorse OnePlus in India.[38]

Partnership with Hasselblad[]

On 8 March 2021, OnePlus announced a $150 million deal with Hasselblad to develop camera technology for OnePlus, which also included the new OnePlus 9 series phones that also included improved cameras made in partnership with Hasselblad.[39][40]

Controversies and criticism[]

"Ladies First" controversy[]

On 13 August 2014, OnePlus hosted a contest to give invites, which were hard to come by at the time, to their female forum members. Users were asked to post a photo of themselves with the OnePlus logo, images would be shared in the forum and could be "liked" by other forum members. This received major backlash for objectifying and degrading women, resulting in the contest being pulled within hours.[41]

Criticism of customer support[]

The customer support at OnePlus was once the subject of strong criticism. In 2017, the company increased the number of customer service staff and set up customer service and repair centers in Asia, Europe, and the United States, greatly improving turnaround times for repairs and other issues.[42]

OnePlus USB-C cable[]

After several weeks of customer complaints on OnePlus forums and on Reddit, Google engineer Benson Leung showed that the USB-C cable and USB-C-to-Micro-USB adapter offered by OnePlus at that time did not conform to the USB specification. OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei on 26 November 2015 admitted that the cable and adapter did not conform to the USB specification, and offered refunds (although not for cables bundled with the OnePlus 2 phone).[43][44][45]

App performance throttling[]

In July 2021, the company was accused of, and then admitted to throttling app performance. The throttling was uncovered by Andrei Frumusanu at AnandTech when he discovered the OnePlus 9 significantly diminishing the performance of Chrome.[46][47]

Reception[]

XDA Developers said in 2020 "OnePlus usually does a decent job of bringing some of the new features it launches with its latest flagships to older devices."[48]

Products[]

Main article: List of OnePlus products

OnePlus is known for making Smartphones, Headphones, Wearables and Televisions. Some of its products are known as "Flagship Killers" for providing a better experience for a lower price than their counterparts.[49][50] Their products overall have received mixed reviews[51][52]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Xiang, Tracey (13 January 2014). "Smartphone Startup OnePlus Aims at Developed Markets". TechNode. Retrieved 2 May 2014.[dead link]
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "OnePlus publishes 2017 annual report: revenues and sales on the rise". GSMArena. 30 January 2018. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  3. ^ cheek
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b F., Alan (26 April 2014). "Is OnePlus a wholly owned subsidiary of Oppo? Chinese document suggests that the answer is yes". Phone Arena. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Who is BBK, the world's second largest phone manufacturer?". Android Authority. 19 January 2020. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Privacy Policy". OnePlus. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019. Postal address: F18, Block C, Tairan Building, Tairan 8th Road, Chegongmiao, Futian District, Shenzhen, China, Zip Code: 518040 // Address in Chinese Archived 9 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine: "快递地址：中国深圳市福田区车公庙泰然八路泰然大厦C座18楼，邮编: 518040"
  7. ^ "OnePlus: setting its sights on changing the world with affordable smartphones". The Guardian. 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  8. ^ "OnePlus Responds To OPPO Controversy". Gizchina.com. 28 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  9. ^ Byford, Sam (15 June 2018). "The OnePlus 6 is more than just a rebranded Oppo". The Verge. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Meet the One, OnePlus' $299 Nexus killer". Engadget. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Kastrenakes, Jacob (16 December 2013). "From Oppo to OnePlus: a new company wants to build the next great smartphone". The Verge. Archived from the original on 11 June 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  12. ^ "OnePlus to Delhi High Court: Micromax's Cyanogen OS Is Different". NDTV Gadgets. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  13. ^ Dent, Steve (7 January 2014). "Cyanogen will partner with OnePlus on its debut phone, the 'OnePlus One'". Engadget. Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  14. ^ "OnePlus One launched in India for $355 on Amazon". GSMArena. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  15. ^ "Oppo unveils Chinese actress Mini Yang M as brand ambassador". GSM INSIDER. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b "The OnePlus 3 is now on sale from the OnePlus website". Android Central. 14 June 2016. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  17. ^ "Delhi HC bans import & sales of OnePlus One smartphone in India". AndroidOS.in. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  18. ^ Vikas SN (8 May 2015). "Micromax & OnePlus resolve legal dispute; OnePlus handsets will get Cyanogen updates". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Cyanogen to continue support for OnePlus One in India". Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  20. ^ "OnePlus Launches in Indonesia through Exclusive Lazada Partnership - OnePlus Blog". Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  21. ^ "Chinese phone maker OnePlus quits Indonesia - Techinasia.com". www.techinasia.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  22. ^ "OnePlus Plans to Expand Offline Stores in 10 Cities in India". NDTV Gadgets360.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  23. ^ "원플러스가 누구야?…프리미엄폰 시장서 돌풍 일으키며 애플·삼성 위협". 중앙일보 (in Korean). Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  24. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^ "OnePlus and OPPO have reportedly merged hardware R&D teams". xda-developers. 21 January 2021. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  27. ^ "OnePlus is merging OxygenOS with Oppo's ColorOS". 2 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Update to the OxygenOS Codebase and Software Maintenance Schedule". 2 July 2021.
  29. ^ Orf, Darren. "OnePlus Is Finally Ditching Its Annoying Invite System". Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  30. ^ "OnePlus goes invite free". Wired. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  31. ^ "Free loop VR headset". Fortune. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  32. ^ "Phone Smash". OnePlus. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  33. ^ "OnePlus One 'Smash the Past" contest sees hopefuls smashing their phones prematurely". Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  34. ^ Smith, Chris (25 April 2014). "Warning: You really shouldn't smash your phone for a OnePlus One just yet". BGR. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  35. ^ Jump up to: a b "OnePlus revises their 'smash' contest to allow winners to donate perfectly good phones to charity instead". Android Central. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  36. ^ "Naezy launches his new single 'Rukta Nah' on OnePlus Playback". Media Infoline. 12 August 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  37. ^ "OnePlus Playback | Teaser | S01". 31 July 2018. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
  38. ^ Schoon, Ben (16 May 2019). "OnePlus makes a deal with 'Avengers' Robert Downey Jr. to endorse OnePlus 7 Pro". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  39. ^ Porter, Jon (23 March 2021). "OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro announced with Hasselblad-branded cameras". The Verge. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  40. ^ Heater, Brian (8 March 2021). "OnePlus recruits Hasselblad for 3-year smartphone imaging deal". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  41. ^ "OnePlus asks women to participate in degrading contest to get a smartphone". Verge. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  42. ^ Savov, Vlad (6 June 2017). "OnePlus touts improvements to customer care in anticipation of OnePlus 5". The Verge. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  43. ^ "OnePlus Offers Explanation, Refunds In Type-C 'Cablegate'". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  44. ^ "OnePlus admits that it's selling dodgy USB Type-C cables and adapters". Archived from the original on 29 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  45. ^ "In response to the Type-C cable discussions". Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  46. ^ Frumusanu, Andrei. "Examining OnePlus' Performance Behaviour: Optimization or Misrepresentation?". www.anandtech.com. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  47. ^ Amadeo, Ron (7 July 2021). "OnePlus admits to throttling 300 popular apps with recent update". Ars Technica. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  48. ^ Mehrotra, Pranob (14 August 2020). "Older OnePlus phones won't be getting RAM Boost and DC Dimming". xda-developers. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  49. ^ "OnePlus Timeline – Know Everything about Flagship Killer Phone". Mirror Review Blog. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  50. ^ OnePlus 8 Pro Review: Finally a Flagship!, retrieved 8 July 2021
  51. ^ "I consistently recommend smartphones from a company that few in the US have ever heard of over Apple's iPhones or Samsung's Galaxy phones - this is why". Business Insider. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  52. ^ Wong, Raymond. "I spent a week with the OnePlus Nord. Here's the good and bad news". Input. Retrieved 8 July 2021.

External links[]

  • Media related to OnePlus at Wikimedia Commons
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