Here’s why OnePlus abandoned plans for its own wearable

By David Nield October 31, 2015

oneplus extended warranty north america 2 0028 — Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Wearables are finding their way to more and more wrists and ankles, and the trend is growing all the time — so it’s no surprise that hardware makers want to get in on the action as soon as possible. One firm that isn’t jumping on the bandwagon for the foreseeable future is OnePlus, which recently abandoned plans to launch a wearable device at the last minute.

Speaking to TechRadar, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei said his company was interested in launching a fitness tracker — and a Bluetooth speaker — but pulled the plug a month before the devices were about to hit the market. Understandably, the engineers working on the projects weren’t best pleased that all their hard work counted for nothing.

As Pei explained to TechRadar: “We asked ourselves, what is the goal? We decided we needed to focus on smartphones, to ensure we’re launching quality products and leave the wearables and speakers to the people who know what they’re doing.”

So make of that what you will — Pei says the company is going to continue to focus on its flagship phone and the more stylish X range, with no plans to add more handsets at different price points at this stage. Customer service and the OxygenOS software developed by the firm are also going to be prioritized in the years ahead, according to Pei.

It makes sense for OnePlus to focus its efforts behind a couple of major products rather than spread itself too thinly — it doesn’t have the huge resources of a Samsung or an LG after all — but it would’ve been interesting to see what the innovative company would have done with the wearable fitness tracker format. Let’s hope it might revisit the idea again at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

Dave is a freelance journalist from Manchester in the north-west of England. He's been writing about technology since the…

Mobile

See the OnePlus 10 Pro now, days before the official January 11 launch

OnePlus 10 Pro 5G.

This is the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G, and it’s coming on January 11. However, before you start checking your bank account in anticipation, there is a catch. OnePlus says the launch will “begin in China,” so it appears the OnePlus 10 Pro will make its international launch later on, and any January 11 launch event will be focused on China.

The image you see here is also the only one OnePlus has shared at the moment, and it hasn’t talked about the specification yet either, so if you’re holding out for a lot of final, official details you’ll have to be patient. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take a closer look at the images and note some of the major design decisions.

Mobile

The OnePlus 9RT is finally going global months after China-only launch

OnePlus 9RT

Three months after the launch of the OnePlus 9RT, the affordable flagship is set to make its first appearance outside of China. OnePlus India today sent out invites for a virtual launch event scheduled for January 14, where the company will formally launch the OnePlus 9RT in that country.

For those unaware, the OnePlus 9RT is the only “T” series smartphone that OnePlus announced in 2021, having decided against launching the OnePlus 9T last year. Interestingly, the 9RT is somewhat of a successor to the OnePlus 9R -- an affordable flagship from the company that first launched in India alongside its pricier 9 series siblings.

Mobile

Here is why your iPhone 13 could soon be made in India

The display of the iPhone 13 as seen from an angle.

If you are an iPhone user, chances are high the device in your hands was assembled at a factory in China. While China-made iPhones continue to fulfill the massive demand for these devices every year, Apple has been looking at other countries as potential manufacturing hubs to reduce its dependence on China. One of these countries happens to be India, and according to a new report, Apple is likely to begin production of the iPhone 13 in India in the next few months.

According to the Economic Times, Apple has started trial production of the iPhone 13 at a Foxconn-owned plant in southern India. Once the dry run is over, the company expects the facility to churn out iPhone 13s on a regular basis starting in February 2022. The India-made iPhone 13 devices are expected to improve the availability of the model in other markets, and it is estimated that nearly 30% of those manufactured in India will be earmarked for export. Currently, there are no plans to make the iPhone 13 Pro and the Pro Max models in India.