OnePlus Plans to Launch Affordable Smartphones in India Soon 6jdu Reveals CEO Pete Lau

Would we be able to see a new “flagship killer” by OnePlus soon? 1wh6z

By Jagmeet Singh | Updated: 27 May 2020 11:43 IST

OnePlus Plans to Launch Affordable Smartphones in India Soon, Reveals CEO Pete Lau

OnePlus currently has a strong presence in the smartphone market in India 4z2o1k

Highlights

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau revealed a new strategy in a media interview
The strategy will be first implemented in India soon
OnePlus was once known for offering affordable phones to consumers

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OnePlus is planning to make a comeback to the affordable market segment by launching new budget smartphones, CEO Pete Lau revealed in an interview. The company plans to make an announcement of its new strategy in India soon, followed by bringing its “lower-priced” devices to markets including Europe and North America in the later part of this year. The new move by the Shenzhen-based company could make things tougher for Xiaomi that has gained huge success for selling low-margin mobile devices.

“We can look at it as having a more affordable product offering,” Lau OnePlus standard… and through this enabling more people to have access to OnePlus products.”

OnePlus started its journey in the smartphone market by unveiling the with a starting price of Rs. 53,500.

OnePlus 8 Series to Be Available in India by May-End: Report

However, in recent times, OnePlus has changed its position from being a producer of affordable smartphones to a leader in the market. The company led the smartphone market in India last year by beating OnePlus 8 Pro, are priced between Rs. 41,999 and Rs. 59,999.

Lau didn't indicate that OnePlus would stop making higher-end smartphone models. However, it is clear from what he's said that the company doesn't want to stay in the segment alone, and has plans to grow further with its affordable future models.

OnePlus declined to provide clarity on its new strategy towards bringing affordable smartphones when Gadgets 360 reached out through an email. Nevertheless, Lau through a tweet suggested that the company has “big plans” to move ahead.

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Affordable phones to power an ecosystem?
Apart from smartphones, OnePlus has started offering smart TVs since last September. OnePlus India General Manager Vikas Agarwal last year told Gadgets 360 that the company also wants to launch smart home devices in addition to its smart TVs to expand its footprints in the Internet of Things (IoT) market in the country. Thus, bringing lower-priced smartphone models would help in getting bigger in the world of connected devices as smartphones can be used as a catalyst to run an IoT ecosystem.

Companies including Xiaomi are already leveraging their strong presence in the affordable smartphone market segment to create their ecosystem of connected devices. Similarly, Apple and Samsung are the two great examples that have successfully locked many of their consumers in an interconnected system of devices.

Lau suggested in the interview that OnePlus is eager to go beyond smartphones and build its own ecosystem. However, details about how the company would grow further are yet to be revealed.

Will OnePlus 8 series be able to take on iPhone SE (2020), Samsung Galaxy S20 in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, the episode, or just hit the play button below.

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