Story of OnePlus: A User’s Perspective
Observing the journey of the company, from OnePlus One to the OnePlus Nord, from invite-only to “sold within minutes”…
“The OnePlus One represents a lot more than buying just another phone. Above all, in this world of chaos and confusion, it stands for a good decision made — our generation has less of those anyway.”
Me: “Hello, I am facing issues with my phone’s network for the past few days.”
Customer Care(Telecom Operator ): Sorry to know sir. I’ll note down your complaint. May I know which phone do you use?
Me: “Yes. I use a OnePlus One.”
CC: “Okay. Samsung?”
Me: “No no, it’s OnePlus.”
CC: “Yes I get it. But what company? HTC?” (HTC One had more familiarity clearly)
Me: “No Mam, the name of the company is OnePlus, and the model is One. So it’s OnePlus One!”
CC: Err, alright, sir. (whatever you say)
Well, that is how the name OnePlus One hit people, back when it was launched, in late 2014, by this new company founded by Pete Lau and Carl Pei. A “jaw-drop- moment, it was, really! Just think of it — an unknown brand, launching a phone with a premium price (20k smartphones were a bit on the premium side at that time), claiming to be a “flagship killer”, confined to the online mode of distribution, and above all, keeping the purchase invite-only! What are the odds that this company would have succeeded? Well, look at the company now, and you’ll appreciate each and every (read as most of them) decision that the company has taken.
This write-up is essentially a perspective on the company’s story and its journey till now, from a user’s standpoint (the Indian market in particular). The observers who sailed along with the company, watching the waves from a distance, as the red and white logo kept on shaking the smartphone industry, with the ripples far and wide.
The story goes like this. At the beginning of things, there existed only a particular group — the tech-savvy millennial — who noticed the subtle entry by this Chinese manufacturer. At that time, Xiaomi had started to penetrate the Indian market with its budget smartphones (below the range of 15k). Their offerings were becoming worthy alternatives to the phones in that segment. Still, in reality, China made phones were looked down upon by many, and the likes of HTC, Motorola, and Sony were not on the edge of oblivion that they are facing right now. Samsung and Apple were indeed the leaders in the premium segment (above 30–40k category),
Anyone who invested in a 20k Chinese phone by a brand new company with no offline presence was surely risking a lot for the sake of trying out a new phone. Why? Why would these people take a leap-of-faith? The market didn’t need another smartphone brand at that point (Carl Pei’s words). But, OnePlus did a bang-on job in super-targeting its potential users, who would buy online, who would look at the technicalities of its performance, and who would indeed choose this performance over brand name. It did wonders for them The impact of “word-of-mouth” was unprecedented.
The core market of OnePlus One was supposed to be Chinese customers only. But, their foreign sales, including India, managed to outdo their home country sales! OnePlus One achieved its overall sales targets way early than these guys expected. Did I mention that “these guys” were two young people, in their 20s and 30s who left their jobs to start their own venture? Add that to the company’s charm factor too. A young and dynamic brand in all senses, with a no-compromise attitude, breaking all the conventional ways of doing business.
Eventually, we got to know the strategy behind all their early decisions. The infamous “Invite-Only” system existed so that the company could manage its supply chain efficiently. Mass producing phones and stocking them burn a lot of cash, and behemoths like Samsung had to spend a substantial amount in storing phones and making it available to people, even if they weren’t selling. Being a startup means working on a small budget which led to their decision of selling the phone online-only, cutting down the middlemen. (Partnering with Amazon seemed like a smart decision, in India, as it added to the credibility a bit, instead of going all-in through their own website)
The core ideology behind the “flagship killer’ was inspired by Apple (as said by Carl Pei, the co-founder, in one of his interviews). He expressed that the only company (back then) that focused on good user experience, both hardware and software, was Apple. Why won’t other companies follow that philosophy? Why do customers have to pay so much to get a decent and satisfying experience? It was time they brought around a change. A time to tell its users to “Never Settle” for anything lesser than what their hard-earned money deserves. A strong narrative indeed.
Rest of the story, as they say, is history. The founders put in a lot of sweat into making sure that each and every part of the OnePlus One’s design was creating an impact on the ultimate user experience. The hardware was killer in itself, with the latest Snapdragon processors, high RAM and storage space. Parts as small as the volume buttons were filtered manually to check for manufacturing defects. Its software created an entirely different impact on smartphone fanatics. The initial phones used Cyanogen OS (shifted to Oxygen OS later), which was a free and open-source operating system, highly used by the developer community (it meant that they could tweak the software in their own ways). The added advantages of playing around with the phone’s look and performance meant more power in the hands of the end-user.
The result? OnePlus hit the bull’s eye in attracting the tech-influencer community. If you were to buy a new phone and go to your ‘techie’ friend for advice, he/she were bound to hold you to a gunpoint to buy this user-friendly phone.
That was all about the OnePlus One. The era had begun. The OnePlus 2 came in mid-2015, riding on the success of its predecessor. The signature sandstone back kept attracting the users and making the phone “unique” in a certain way. OnePlus maintained the high-performance-at-reasonable-price philosophy, and although OnePlus 2 received mixed reviews, it did fairly well in the end. OnePlus X came in and went by without any celebrations.
The real turning point for the company was the OnePlus 3. It is where we witnessed the brand suddenly becoming the “talk of the town”. The phone surpassed everyone’s expectations and was in all the right ways — a flagship killer. With the launch of OnePlus 3T, the brand now cut across different audience groups, attracting people other than their core users, with a well-established community of influencers, and brand evangelists (people who are so passionate about a company’s products that they aggressively promote it out of free-will). There was no looking back.
At this peak point, we could finally see the branding activities deployed by the company. Now that it was starting to have a broader appeal, OnePlus went all-in. Celebrity brand ambassadors were roped in (In India, it was Amitabh Bachchan). It came in as a pleasant surprise to see the company suddenly advertising itself on mass media such as television, billboards, and even non-tech influencers spreading the word on social media. Standup comedians were now doing the unboxing videos, along with the usual tech vloggers. OnePlus launch events turned into a thing just like Apple’s. OnePlus even launched its experience stores all over to attract the non-online customers and boost the company’s image. I personally was amazed when OnePlus pulled in Robert Downey, Jr. for the OnePlus 7 Pro. What a move!
Marketing tactics were deployed back to back to keep the brand in the news all the time. World records were broken (most number of people unboxing a phone simultaneously, for 6T), college campus programs were launched (college students were the most fanatic ones), collabs were made with brands like McLaren and Marvel for limited editions. The company even partnered up with media channels like Netflix (for Sacred Games 2) and National Geographic (for its magazine cover) to showcase their device’s camera and display capabilities.
The OnePlus Music Festival is a prime example of OnePlus’ strategy to hit the right “chords” among the youth. What better way to come out as a ‘cool’ and youth-oriented brand than creating a music festival for your core audience?
All in all — with the powerful marketing efforts and tactics — the company now (post 3T) began targeting its existing and potential users from every angle possible. One just couldn’t help witnessing the brand’s presence all around, and hearing enthusiasts going gaga over each new model. Today, the company is a big name in the market. Every new phone by the company gets accompanied by excitement and festive feelings. The company continues to rely upon its core youth user base as influencers, that’s what really made the company what it is today. “Shot on OnePlus” has its own appeal, as does the distinctive red charging cables.
If Apple is associated with say premium or sophistication, OnePlus is associated with performance orientation and dynamism. And of course “them tech feels”.
Apart from the good things in the OnePlus’ story, from an early user’s perspective, some aspects seem to be off the track lately. The fact that the company now has smartphones in the 40k segment, itself is a letdown. We understand that keeping the phone aligned with the newest technology does come with a cost, but the price tag still beats the idea that we initially had regarding the company. The recent launch of the OnePlus Nord back in the “budget” segment seems like an indicator that the company wants to keep a leg in that market as well.
Also, the “new-phone-every-few-months” strategy is sort-of a “you took away my thunder” thing; it dilutes the thrill of the new users. Only recently, after launching the Nord and 8T in 2020, the company announced the arrival of Nord’s successors for 2020 itself. Imagine someone buying a new phone, only to receive news alerts of its successors lined-up immediately ahead.
Post OnePlus 6/6T, each numerical model has four variants (E.g. 7, 7 Pro, 7T, 7T Pro). These four variants fueled a lot of confusion as in which model came when, and what were their USPs. Enthusiasm bogged down by confusion! For someone who’s been following the launches, the world of Ts and Pros has created a lost kind of a feeling.
If I have to draw an analogy here, I would say that the situation is similar to the Fast & Furious movie series. Both have successors coming up every now and then (we have lost the count), with the plots and characters (and features) all mixed up. But one thing common for both — we know that each successor (and sequel) will still be a better bet to spend your money. If there is a Fast & Furious movie running in the theaters, and I am looking for something I know won’t ruin my time/money, I’ll go for it. If someone’s looking to buy a new phone, and if I have to suggest a name without thinking much, well, you know it by now.
With Carl Pei recently resigning from the company, after 7 years of devoting everything to it and being its face, it is to see what changes we get to experience from now on. Will OnePlus manage to maintain its ideology of high user experience at affordable prices — the one ideology it started with — or will it end up just being another big brand with costly smartphones which the brand loyalists will anyway end up buying (just like, emm, you know who)
I still have my OnePlus One with me. I bet many early buyers have a special feeling towards that phone. It represented a lot more than buying just another phone. Above all, in this world of chaos and confusion, it stands for a good decision made. Our generation has less of those anyway. It will be exciting and enjoyable to see what chapter unfolds in this company’s story. Whatever be, it will be worth experiencing.
And yes, I believe that those customer care folks won’t have any trouble now in identifying the name OnePlus ;)
(OnePlus One Artwork by Juhi Kude; Never settle wallpapers from OnePlus Community website, official logos from OnePlus official brand assets kit)
