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OnePlus

Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer, a subsidiary of Oppo

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OnePlus was founded by Pete Lau and Carl Pei on 16 December 2013 to develop a high-end flagship smartphone running Cyanogen OS that would come to be known as the OnePlus One. OnePlus would continue to release smartphones afterwards. In 2020, OnePlus released the OnePlus Nord, its first mid-range smartphone since the OnePlus X in 2015. Pei would oversee the design and marketing of OnePlus' products until his departure from the company in October 2020, going on to found the consumer electronics manufacturer Nothing.

History

2013–2014: Founding and OnePlus One

OnePlus Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. was founded on 16 December 2013 by former Oppo vice-president Pete Lau and Carl Pei. According to Chinese public records, OnePlus' only Institutional investor is Oppo Electronics. Lau denied that OnePlus was a subsidiary of Oppo and stated that Oppo Electronics and not Oppo Mobile (the phone manufacturer) is a major investor of OnePlus. Lau went on to state that they were "in talks with other investors", although OnePlus has confirmed it uses Oppo's manufacturing line and shares part of the supply chain resources with Oppo.

Lau founded OnePlus with the intent 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" (a slogan that would come to be used by OnePlus in its marketing material) for the lower-quality devices produced by other companies. The name "OnePlus" originates from and encapsulates this same philosophy, with "1" representing the status quo and the "+" the desire to improve upon it, as well as the ambition to share good products with the world. Lau also showed aspirations of being the "Muji of the tech industry", emphasizing its focus on high-quality products with simplistic, user-friendly designs. Continuing Lau's association with the platform from the Oppo N1, 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. OnePlus would later develop a version of Android, known as OxygenOS, for use in its phones.

The OnePlus One was introduced on 23 April 2014 as OnePlus' first smartphone. It differed from its competitors—largely flagship devices from larger phone manufacturers, in its usage of CyanogenOS, its openness to developers, and its price-to-performance ratio in comparison to its hardware, although criticism was levied for technical issues. In order to reduce marketing costs, OnePlus relied instead on word of mouth and initially only allowed purchases via an invite system. Throughout early 2014, OnePlus would continue to expand, hiring Chinese celebrity author Han Han to help market its products in mainland China and expanding its operations to the European Union in March of that year. 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.

2015–2019: Continued success, expansions in Southeast Asia

In 2015, OnePlus began an effort to expand in Southeast Asia, making its products available in the region for the first time, partnering with Lazada Indonesia in January 2015. 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.

Also in 2015, OnePlus unveiled the OnePlus X, the company's first foray into the budget device market.

In May 2018, OnePlus would release the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Headphones. In September of that year, OnePlus announced that it would be producing a line of smart TVs with OnePlus TV exclusively sold in India. The initial model of the OnePlus TV line, the OnePlus TV Q1, was released in September 2019.

2020–2026: Further product launches, expansion to more markets, Carl Pei's resignation

OnePlus would release a series of new products in 2020, including the OnePlus Buds and the OnePlus Nord in July, the latter being OnePlus' first budget device since the release of the OnePlus X in 2015.

On 16 October 2020, Carl Pei resigned as the marketing director of OnePlus.

In 2021, Oppo and OnePlus would begin to build a partnership, combining their hardware research teams in January of that year. In July 2021, OnePlus merged OxygenOS, its Android-based operating system used since the OnePlus X and Oppo's ColorOS. The software of both companies continues to remain separate and serve their individual regions with OxygenOS for OnePlus phones globally and 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.

In May 2024, OnePlus expanded by establishing official operations in Bangladesh. The company also started assembling smartphones locally and announced that it would begin to sell its full range of products in the country.

2026–present: Restructuring and market withdrawal

In early 2026, it was widely reported that OnePlus would wind down operations in several global markets, which the company initially refuted. In April, OnePlus said it was “evaluating its regional roadmap and product strategy” in North America, while also stating that after-sales support, software updates, and user rights commitments for existing users would remain guaranteed.

On 16 July 2026, after several months of speculation, OnePlus confirmed that it would withdraw from the United States and Europe and cease releasing new products in those markets. Oppo said that existing devices would continue receiving previously promised software updates and after-sales support, and that it would assume OnePlus warranty obligations in Europe. Bloomberg reported that the withdrawal was planned to expand to other markets, including India, in 2027, which would leave OnePlus active only in China.

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