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OnePlus, the Chinese smartphone startup that made a mark in the West
OnePlus is a Shenzhen-based Android smartphone maker that has earned itself a loyal following in the West. A sister brand to Oppo and Vivo, it’s known for making powerful devices for budget prices.
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
Among Chinese smartphone makers, OnePlus stands out. It’s only five years old and only has around 700 employees, but it has carved out a niche for itself amid fierce competition from much bigger companies. And it has something giants like Huawei don’t have: A foothold in the West.
OnePlus was founded by a group of 7 Oppo employees in 2013, including its CEO Pete Lau, who was Vice President at Oppo, and Carl Pei, a Swedish college dropout who was in charge of overseas marketing for the company.
Carl Pei described how his staff at Oppo pulled out their phones at a cafe… and none of them carried their own devices. They were all using iPhones.
“We asked ourselves, who makes the best smartphone in the world? You had to say Apple. But second? There was no No.2. We saw a gap,” Pei told the Wall Street Journal in 2015.
But the Oppo employees didn’t quite leave for a brand new company. OnePlus is part of BBK Electronics -- the same parent company as Oppo, as well as another Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo. The combination of OnePlus, Oppo and Vivo would make BBK Electronics the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker.
It’s also why OnePlus, Oppo and Vivo often have similar handsets. Lau has said in the past that OnePlus shares Oppo’s factories and supply chains -- giving the smaller company the advantages of a company many times bigger.
Still, being a separate brand from Oppo allowed OnePlus to have a fresh identity. And the startup’s aggressive overseas marketing soon brought it international fame.
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