Over the past few months, we have heard many reports that OnePlus is planning to close its operations in the US and exit the European market. OnePlus has been denying these reports, saying that rumors of store closures and executive changes are part of normal operations, not a forecast of shutdowns in these key markets. Now, WinFuture reports that the company will officially announce its exit to the European and US markets this week.
“According to our informed sources, OnePlus and its parent company, Oppo, intend to announce fundamental changes in their strategy this week. What sounds like a lot of marketing hype is nothing less than the withdrawal from key markets and the end of OnePlus as we knew it,” said the company. The report goes on to add that the entire remaining inventory of OnePlus devices is being sold, and once it’s gone, it won’t be replenished. In all European stores of OnePlus, almost all stocks have already been cleared.
So, what happens next?
Although OnePlus will officially withdraw from the US and European markets, the company will continue to honor the commitment of software updates and hardware warranty terms for devices already sold in the regions. That is, assuming that the company is going ahead and going out of business. The silver lining is that parent company Oppo is in the best position to honor those aftermarket commitments as it plans to stay and expand in the EU bloc.
“In recent interviews with members of the media, OnePlus and Oppo have made it clear that while they intend to continue to provide support and updates for devices that have been sold until the end of their life cycles, they do not plan to launch any new OnePlus products in Europe and the USA,” the report added.
But why?
The decline of OnePlus in the US and European markets can be attributed to many factors, although there is no official confirmation as to why that actually happened. Parent company, Oppo, recently announced the consolidation of the supply chain and manufacturing facilities for OnePlus and Oppo devices, and some high-profile shuffling followed. Recent reports have also claimed that the OxygenOS software skin, which has been a mainstay of OnePlus devices for years, will also be getting sunset. It will be replaced by the ColorOS experience found on Oppo-branded smartphones.
Some rumors say that Oppo is simply consolidating its resources and narrowing down its smartphone strategy in markets where it is not a major player, against major rivals such as Samsung and Apple. The current state of the industry has also made it difficult for OnePlus, which has stood out by offering high-end hardware at a lower price compared to its established rivals. To recall, OnePlus was the first brand to expand the “flagship killing” strategy by offering high-performance phones while undercutting big names like Samsung and Apple.
But in recent months, the smartphone industry has been struggling under significant price pressure, mainly due to the rising cost of memory and storage modules due to its demand in the AI sector. As a result, the prices have increased significantly. Budget smartphones are becoming increasingly rare, and even Apple has had to raise the prices of its devices. According to analyst reports, the asking price of the iPhone 18 Pro could increase by $300 later this year.
In a market like that, following the strategy that OnePlus excelled in will be very difficult to maintain. So far, it is not clear where things will go, or if this was just another rumor. However, the situation looks bleak for any other brand not named Samsung or Apple, due to their flexibility in the supply chain and tight control over the assembly and production steps, allowing them to absorb further component price increases.
