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OnePlus Is Launching an Ecosystem to Compete With Apple’s
Why pay more than $1,000 for a phone and earbuds?
Over the last few years, Apple has built a formidable, deeply integrated ecosystem around its products with services like iMessage and hardware like the Apple Watch and AirPods, allowing the company to sell these devices to iPhone owners at a premium relative to competitors. So far, few other manufacturers have nailed a similar experience.
Shenzhen-based OnePlus is trying, though, to build an alternative ecosystem — for half of the price. You can now buy both the company’s latest high-end phone, the OnePlus Nord, and its AirPods-style OnePlus Buds for under $600. Though other manufacturers have tried their hand at ecosystems of their own, OnePlus may change the game with a combination of high quality at an affordable price—a marked contrast to Apple or Samsung.
The OnePlus Nord has all of the specs of a top-end smartphone, like a 90Hz AMOLED display, 5G support, and a powerful 48-megapixel camera. But it retails for the equivalent of $480, almost half of the price of the latest iPhone, while the OnePlus Buds are just $79.
Buying an iPhone 11 Pro and a pair of AirPods, by comparison, will set you back more than $1,158 — close to double what OnePlus is asking. And despite that huge rift in price, OnePlus’ phones don’t skimp on quality; when I tested the company’s previous flagship, it felt just as slick as an iPhone.
OnePlus is likely less familiar in North America because the company has long been absent from the U.S. market and unavailable for purchase via any official channels. But, the company’s smartphones have gained popularity in Europe, India, and Asia, where buyers are more price sensitive.
That’s a big differentiator for OnePlus, which has successfully positioned itself internationally as selling high-end phones for much less than competitors like Apple, Google, and Samsung, which have been gradually raising their prices in recent years. When I last upgraded my own phone, upgrading from a Pixel 2 to a Pixel 4, I felt pricing fatigue as I was handing over $1,000 yet again.
