OnePlus 3. Image: Esa Riutta/Shutterstock
While OnePlus has now produced three well-received smartphones, how customers actually bought the devices has proved a stumbling block. Until now.
Last September, OnePlus hit an embarrassing low. Fresh from the teething issues behind its oddly exclusive selling format for the OnePlus One, its first smartphone, things were supposed to be different.
Streamlined delivery structures, a loosening of the invite-only sales technique and an all-round expansion of availability were planned for, but not executed well.
“We messed up the launch of the OnePlus 2,” said the company in a fairly forthright blog post at the time.
“Well, we messed up the launch of the OnePlus One as well,” it added, detailing what went wrong.
Essentially it didn’t learn from its mistakes; something that the company looks to be remedying for the OnePlus 3.
Starting on Thursday (29 September), UK fans will be able to buy the OnePlus 3 in O2 stores, fresh from a landmark partnership between the two companies.
“We chose O2 as our exclusive partner in this important market because they have a history of focusing on the most premium smartphones for the most savvy users, which aligns very well with our products and users,” said Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus.
What this means is that the OnePlus 3, released a few months ago, will be available in the traditional sense of the word. In store. In stock. In hand.
This could be the first of many such agreements, with O2’s presence in multiple markets meaning that, potentially, the devices could land in stores beyond the UK soon. However, as yet, no such plans have been revealed.
OnePlus 3 image: Esa Riutta/Shutterstock
