OnePlus, the ‘Flagship-Killer’ Smartphone Brand, Is All but Dead

But OnePlus’ exit comes astatine a clip erstwhile smartphone shipments are showing steep declines owed to the ongoing representation crisis—the deficiency of RAM, eaten up by information centers for the AI boom, has caused a planetary shortage. Research steadfast Counterpoint connected Monday noted an 11 percent year-over-year diminution successful planetary smartphone shipments successful the 2nd 4th of 2026, the lowest level successful that play successful 13 years. Two companies saw growth—Apple and Samsung—whereas competitors similar Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo saw the sharpest declines. (Vivo is simply a portion of the aforesaid conglomerate, BBK Electronics, that owns Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme.)

Last year, astatine the onset of president Donald Trump’s tariff war, OnePlus dramatically accrued the terms of its past caller smartwatch from $330 to $500. In May 2026, the institution hiked prices connected its latest phones successful India. The institution has been dealing with a monolithic nonaccomplishment of smartphone marketplace stock successful the US for respective years.

Nabila Popal, a elder probe manager of Consumer Devices astatine the International Data Corporation, says OnePlus was ne'er a person successful the US. Still, the company's income took a nosedive aft T-Mobile dropped its concern successful 2023.

OnePlus went from 1 cardinal smartphone shipments successful the US successful 2019 to conscionable nether 130,000 instrumentality shipments successful 2025—roughly a 90 percent measurement driblet implicit six years. Smartphones are chiefly sold done carriers successful the US, which means telephone makers that aren't disposable astatine bearer stores often person a hard clip cracking the market. Popal says carriers thrust arsenic overmuch arsenic 66 percent of the measurement successful the US, astatine slightest based connected 2025 data. T-Mobile declined to remark connected the OnePlus news.

The US represented astir 22 percent of OnePlus' shipments successful 2021, with akin numbers from Europe, and lone 18 percent from China. But Popal says by 2025, the numbers flipped with 56 percent of OnePlus's measurement coming from China, which apt explains Oppo's connection that OnePlus' China merchandise roadworthy representation is not changing. If you adhd Asia Pacific, that fig jumps to 91 percent—a immense leap from 51 percent successful 2021.

“In 2018, with the OnePlus 6, they had launched what they were calling precise proudly a ‘flagship killer’ astatine the terms of $529, with flagship specs,” Popal says. “And then, alternatively than staying astatine that terms point, they replicated the premium market—trying to summation prices—and that made them akin to the competition.”

Popal says it's a strategy often acceptable by companies with razor-thin margins. The archetypal extremity is to drawback interest, past spell up successful price, a method to interruption into the marketplace and gradually summation profitability. “But unfortunately, definite brands are not capable to bid a terms beyond a definite point," she says. "It's truly lone been Apple and Samsung that person been capable to run precise successfully.”

Chinese telephone brands are often the archetypal to present caller technologies (like silicon-carbon batteries), and portion determination aren't galore Chinese players successful the US, OnePlus was the outlier. The brand’s deficiency of a beingness volition mean 1 little prime for consumers, and Popal says the marketplace is moving further into consolidation. OnePlus went from having 1.8 percent of the US marketplace successful 2021 to 0.1 percent successful 2025, according to Popal; Apple and Samsung went from a combined 73 percent of the marketplace successful that aforesaid play to 80 percent successful 2025.

“It's a pity that US consumers bash not person the prime of the fig of brands that are disposable globally due to the fact that determination are immoderate fascinating technologies and features," Popal says. "But I don't spot that scenery changing.”

OnePlus present joins a increasing database of companies that person either unopen down operations, exited the mobile business, pivoted, oregon drastically scaled backmost their ambitions, including HTC, LG Mobile, Sony, Meizu, and HMD.