This conclusion comes from a three-continent investigation—current and former employees across R&D, Business, and Marketing at headquarters in China and regional offices in the US, India, and Europe. It’s confirmed by four independent analyst firms whose market data verifies what OnePlus won’t say. And it’s informed by 15 years covering OnePlus and the smartphone industry’s business dynamics—watching Samsung and Apple rise while Nokia, BlackBerry, HTC, and LG followed this exact pattern into irrelevance.
The evidence is damning. Shipments in freefall. A premium stronghold that collapsed almost overnight. Headquarters shuttered without announcement. Partnerships ended. Western teams gutted to skeleton crews. Product cancellations—the Open 2 foldable and 15s compact flagship have both been scrapped; neither will launch as planned. And every major decision now flows from China—regional offices don’t strategize anymore, they take orders.
I have a lower-mid-end OnePlus. It is decidedly meh. It’s fine. It cost more than I wanted, has poor finger print reader placement, lacks induction charging, and never got the promised unlocked boot loaders, but it has the 3.5 mm headphone jack and microSD slot that I demanded from a phone.
It sure is a phone.