Breaking Update: Here’s a clear explanation of the latest developments related to Breaking News:’We’re operating as usual and will continue to do so:’ OnePlus India CEO says the brand isn’t going anywhere– What Just Happened and why it matters right now.
1/21/26, 8:57 am ET: Added OnePlus North America statement. 1/21/26, 2:00 am: Added statement by OnePlus India CEO Robin Liu. 1/20/26, 5:23 pm: Included a quote from market research firm IDC.
OnePlus may not have a sizable market share, but when it comes to mind share, there isn’t another Android phone manufacturer that gets quite as much attention. A lot of that has to do with the brand’s beginnings and its focus on enthusiasts, and although that OnePlus no longer exists, its echoes remain even under the stewardship of OPPO.
A new report indicated the brand is being dismantled, but that isn’t quite the case. If anything, OnePlus is entering a new era under OPPO, one where it is laser-focused on its portfolio and positioning. Instead of launching several products across tiers, the manufacturer will now focus its attention on a few crucial devices — that’s one of the reasons we haven’t seen a Nord launch in the U.S. in over two and a half years, even though the budget phones outsell the flagships by a factor of ten.
Outside of that, though, there won’t be much in the way of launches. And when it comes to other countries, OnePlus India CEO Robin Liu confirmed that there isn’t any change in how OnePlus is conducting its business in the region:
I wanted to address some misinformation that has been circulating about OnePlus India and its operations. We’re operating as usual and will continue to do so.Never Settle. pic.twitter.com/eAGA7iy3XsJanuary 21, 2026
As with so much that’s going on in the world today, the change in strategy is likely motivated by political headwinds between the U.S. and China. The way I see it, OPPO doesn’t want OnePlus to draw too much attention to itself (lest it invite scrutiny into the broader business), so while you’ll still get OnePlus phones in the U.S., don’t count on it having a retail presence — that boat has sailed with the failed T-Mobile collaboration.
OnePlus North America told Android Central that “OnePlus North America continues to operate, with full guarantee of users’ after-sales support, software updates, and rights commitments.”
But this doesn’t mean OnePlus itself is going away — far from it. The brand isn’t changing how it’s doing business in India, and although sales in the country declined last year, it continues to have a sizable presence. The manufacturer had a glitzy launch event for the OnePlus 15R in India, where it booked an entire palace, and its Nord 5 and Nord CE5 devices continue to sell really well in India’s mid-range category.
We asked Jitesh Ubrani, Research Manager of Worldwide Device Trackers at IDC, if he thought there was any validity to OnePlus closing its doors or winding down the brand. He told us, “I certainly haven’t heard anything along these lines from the grapevine. However, given OnePlus’ trajectory in the past few years, it would be plausible that OPPO is planning on winding down the brand. OnePlus’ share has been declining, marketing spend seemingly dwindling, and it certainly has pivoted away from being the challenger brand that it set out to be when it first launched.”
“Other established brands have successfully fended off OnePlus across all channels and markets,” Ubrani continued. “Think about Pixel, Galaxy FE series, and other similar products which offer great hardware and lower prices than many flagships. If the story holds true, it would be the natural conclusion of OPPO slowly chipping away at OnePlus’ operating budget, starting with when they decided to combine codebases for ColorOS and OxygenOS.”
There’s no doubting that OnePlus doesn’t have any of the freedom it enjoyed as a standalone entity under BBK. The company doesn’t have a distinct design, camera, or software teams, and the OxygenOS 16 software you get on the OnePlus 15 is identical to ColorOS 16 on the OPPO Find X9 Pro — the only difference is the change in name.
That said, OPPO isn’t willing to squander the cachet OnePlus built up in India over the course of the last decade. It may be rethinking how to position OnePlus as a manufacturer in the U.S. and U.K., but as far as I can see, it’s staying the course in India and China — its two biggest markets by an overwhelming margin. India itself is responsible for well over half of OnePlus’s annual sales, so it makes sense that the manufacturer is staying the course in the region.