The information of OnePlus’s demise has not been exaggerated. OnePlus, as soon as referred to within the fanatic neighborhood as a tertiary Android smartphone model within the US, is certainly reconsidering its place within the smartphone wars. The information circuit has been rumbling with studies of the corporate’s impending extinction. OnePlus is not useless but, however a latest assertion from the corporate is additional proof that it is at a crossroads. Issues are undoubtedly altering for the as soon as heralded Android fanatic model—and it isn’t good.
OnePlus Seems to Be in a Downward Spiral
I hoped this spring would deliver new {hardware} from OnePlus. The rumor mill has been awash with studies that the OnePlus Pad 4 and the OnePlus 15T might (finally) hit the States. However the extra the rumors percolate about government shakeups and main model consolidation, the much less I’ve heard about any new OnePlus units hitting the US market. When requested if there was credence to the newest studies that it was winding down its enterprise in sure markets, OnePlus despatched PCMag the next assertion:
OnePlus North America is evaluating its regional roadmap and product technique. All customers’ after-sales assist, software program updates, and rights commitments are totally assured.
OnePlus had a rocky begin to 2026, notably within the US, when it shipped the OnePlus 15 mere days earlier than the 2025 vacation season. The OnePlus 15 was held up by FCC approval points following an enormous authorities shutdown. It had already been out there in China and India for a couple of month. There was so little fanfare for the OnePlus 15’s US launch, in contrast with the Google Pixel and Apple iPhone flagships months prior, that it was virtually as if the launch by no means occurred within the States. It’s changing into more and more apparent that OnePlus’s mum or dad firm, Oppo, is not thinking about bolstering the model in sure markets because it has earlier than.
It is a bummer, provided that OnePlus smartphones have traditionally been among the many most attention-grabbing flagships to hit the scene during the last decade, notably right here within the US, the place we’ve got extra cell homogeneity. PCMag has been reviewing OnePlus units since their inception. We just lately examined the OnePlus 15. It is a superb gadget providing tremendous worth, with an outstanding display screen and one of many longest-lasting batteries we have seen on a smartphone. However with out the red-carpet rollout after Apple, Samsung, and Google’s Pixel units hit the market, nobody actually is aware of OnePlus as a key participant until they’re totally dialed in to the gadget world.
OnePlus 15 (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
Studies on OnePlus’ enterprise leanings have solely grown extra dismal. YouTube creators and pundits just lately spiraled right into a tiny media storm, citing why it isn’t shocking the corporate is dealing with doom. Then, OnePlus India’s CEO, Robin Liu, resigned in March, adopted by additional restructuring throughout the mum or dad corp’s abroad manufacturers. Lately, OnePlus skilled a serious exodus of European staff, together with employees in its London and Spain workplaces. There was additionally a LinkedIn leak during which a senior worker unintentionally posted an announcement just like the one OnePlus is now doling out.
To know why that is occurring, we’ve got to roll it again six years, earlier than Marques Brownlee and the remainder of the YouTube creator financial system began taking part in the demise march. We had been nonetheless largely in lockdown, and Carl Pei had simply left the corporate to pursue what would finally change into the Nothing Telephone. Oppo, the aforementioned mum or dad firm, took over OnePlus’s normal operations following Pei’s exit. Then, the Oppo-ification of OnePlus’s software program started. OnePlus’s traditionally plain Android leanings had been slowly changed with trimmings of Oppo’s Shade OS.
The fanatic’s model, which began in 2013 working an Android fork known as CyanogenMod, has morphed into simply one other department of Oppo’s greater enterprise abroad.
The Highway Forward for OnePlus, If There Is One
What’s occurring with OnePlus proper now could be a transparent signal of checks and balances. The corporate has traditionally struggled to market its units. In its heyday, when Carl Pei was nonetheless on the helm, it will manufacture shortage by promoting solely by way of unique drops. However as soon as Pei left, the novelty of the model because the underground third Android alternative began to put on off. That, coupled with an entire lack of focused regional advertising, is why the OnePlus model has fizzled out within the mainstream and change into relegated to the standing of an fanatic’s Android telephone.
Advisable by Our Editors
OnePlus 15 (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
OnePlus {hardware} continues to be a stable funding in its present state, with 4 years of assured software program updates and 5 years of safety patches. A few of its smartphones are the beefiest within the Android lineup. For instance, the previous few OnePlus flagships shipped with 16GB of RAM and provided almost 100W SuperVooc quick charging. With this main RAM and NAND flash storage scarcity underway, and OnePlus units traditionally among the many best to tinker with, it would not be shocking to see costs for its telephones within the second-hand market rise.
It is a merciless irony that as OnePlus is hitting its stride with {hardware}, the enterprise facet is dealing with turmoil. I have been utilizing the OnePlus Pad 2 Go these days, and it’s a reminder of the corporate’s potential to make worthy, reasonably priced {hardware}. The sub-$300 gadget is likely one of the few remaining Android-based tablets with a stylus enter and a 90Hz show refresh price. If OnePlus disappears totally, we actually are nearing the demise of alternative, the place only some Android manufacturers will stay alongside Apple’s household of slabs.
What a bitter finish for a model that after advised us we should always by no means settle.
About Our Skilled
Florence Ion
Senior Author, Cellular
Expertise
I’m PCMag’s Senior Author for Cellular. I write about Android, iOS, and the myriad intricacies in between. I have been protecting these worlds for greater than 15 years. Earlier than becoming a member of PCMag, I used to be a employees reporter for Gizmodo, PCWorld, and Ars Technica.
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