OnePlus is reportedly planning to launch new smartphones priced under Rs 20,000 in India in a bid to take on affordable smartphone brands such as Xiaomi, Realme and Samsung. While the exact timelines of the launch haven’t been revealed by the Chinese brand, reports suggest that the first smartphone in the sub-Rs 20,000 segment could launch in Q2 2022.
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The speculation of the launch of an affordable smartphone has come after the OnePlus brand was merged with Oppo. Both the brands are owned by China-based BLK Electronics. The smartphone brands are also merging their operating systems – OxygenOS and ColorOS – to improve their efficiency while standardising the operating systems.
The upcoming OnePlus smartphone could be launched in partnership with OPPO. According to data engineer and freelance journalist Yogesh Brar, OnePlus is planning to launch the smartphone for under Rs 20,000.
Taking it to Twitter, Brar said that OPPO is dictating the terms in the merger. “Oppo has always been linked to OnePlus one way or the other. But now they are dictating the terms. OnePlus is going through a shift, and sub 20k phones for India are on the cards. No defined timeline for now, could see them as early as next quarter or Q2’22,” Brar said.
OnePlus currently sells premium smartphones in India. The most affordable Nord range of smartphones launched by OnePlus has been priced more aggressively to compete in the sub-premium category. However, all the smartphones in the lineup are priced way more than Rs 20,000.
