So OnePlus launched the OnePlus Nord CE 5G in India yesterday. The device has some cool features but does it send the OnePlus ideology across the market? That's debatable. Nonetheless, Twitter doesn’t seem to be too happy with the latest launch from the company. Users don’t like multiple things about the smartphone, and they are kind of right about it. Like we said earlier, OnePlus hasn’t been the company it used to be for quite some time, but look, companies evolve with time, and there are a lot of things that are happening internally that we don’t know.
But one thing that’s quite visible is that the image of OnePlus is deteriorating at a fast pace. This is because of several reasons. But the prime ones are increasing prices of smartphones and decreasing customer experience.
That is why OnePlus needs to be very careful with its next flagship launch, which will be the OnePlus 9T, expected to launch in October 2021.
OnePlus 9T Might Make or Break the Company’s Image
OnePlus 9T is a device that the whole market would be looking for. Many users didn’t purchase the OnePlus 9 series because of the low number of 5G bands (N41, N78) support.
There’s one thing that OnePlus needs to understand - India is a price-sensitive market and more so than the other countries. Thus, if consumers spend close to Rs 50,000 or more than that on a smartphone, most of them are looking to use it for the next 3 to 4 years at least.
Even though there are no 5G networks in India yet, they will be available down the line. If someone spent Rs 50,000 or more on a OnePlus 9 series device thinking it is a 5G smartphone and couldn’t even experience 5G on it, that would break his/her heart.
Thus, the first order of business for OnePlus should be to introduce support for more 5G bands in its upcoming smartphones in India. Further, OnePlus should ensure that the OnePlus 9T comes without any bugs out of the box.
Every OnePlus device that has launched lately has had bugs, and it tells the market that the company is rushing to release its smartphones. Every company has defined targets and timeline to launch products, and OnePlus is no different. While that’s not a bad thing, there’s just one thing OnePlus should understand, if it takes a little more time than originally planned to launch the products, its market share in India won’t reduce.
The loyal OnePlus fans aren’t going to leave its products and ignore the convenience and the clean experience of OxygenOS (arguably the best Android OS in the world). OnePlus can change all of its negative perception with the OnePlus 9T.
OnePlus can show India and the world that it is a brand that doesn’t settle by launching the OnePlus 9T in a fashion people expect from the brand. But if the OnePlus 9T also comes with bugs and other issues out of the box for a very high price, that just might break the solid brand image of OnePlus in India. It would further impact the company’s sales of the OnePlus 10 series because of low customer confidence.
It will be interesting to see how OnePlus markets the OnePlus 9T and what ‘never settling’ feature the device will come with.
