Who knows OnePlus will certainly be used to seeing smartphones of a certain level. In fact, the company of Pete Lau, which belongs to the group BBK Electronics, has always had the flagship market as its reference point. Starting from the first smartphone model, up to the last one OnePlus 8 (and 8 Pro) has always aimed at top performance and hardware, without detracting from the excellent software side. But if in the future the brand decides to focus also (but not only) on medium and low range devices? This is the idea that the company could have.
According to Chinese media, OnePlus may have the intention of launching mid-range products: good for the price, but will the brand be affected?
According to reports from laoyaoba.com, the Chinese brand that has always made quality its workhorse, may in the future present some lower-end smartphones. Of course, this doesn't mean that quality will fail, but the changes could be more than one. Let's see why.
According to what reported by the newspaper in the company's future projects there are products 4G and 5G ODM type. It is now necessary to make a distinction between OEM and ODM:
- a product made for you according to project / design of a supplier but realized with your logo is an ODM (Original Design Manufacturing);
- a product made according to a your original project / design proposed by you and with your logo it is an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing). [Source]
Ultimately, ODM-type products are products of a brand that another brand relies on to produce them.
According to Pete Lau, founder and CEO of OnePlus, the company has achieved good results in the market for high-end devices. However, in terms of sales the global market is still mainly occupied by Apple and Samsung. One of the reasons why the Indian price of OP smartphones in India is so low it is because the market in that country has stopped: with a small sacrifice the company intends to go back from the Indian black hole.
Because of this reason, therefore, the Pete Lau company would be investing a large amount of money in the ODM type products (perhaps relying on sub-brands) in order to grab another slice of the market that he needs to get even bigger.
The only fear we have is that if the brand used its logo to advertise this device, sales could paradoxically be affected. In fact, to an average user, the perception that OnePlus has lowered the quality relying on a sub-brand, it would be the first thing to come to mind.
It is not said that this happens, however: we have the example of Realme which has seen, if not all expectations, enormous if not exaggerated growth, thanks to products of this type.
Source | Laobaoya
