Twelve years after the launch of the OnePlus One, OnePlus announced today that it has exited the United States. It’s bittersweet, as the brand has been on a comeback tour of sorts with its excellent OnePlus 15 and widely praised (though still too expensive) OnePlus Open.
The writing has been on the wall for a while now. T-Mobile stopped stocking OnePlus’ flagship phones after 2022, instead deciding to only carry its low-end Nord devices, and Verizon’s run with OnePlus only lasted two years, from 2020 through 2021. Even though it continued releasing flagships, OnePlus’ US footprint has been fading. In January, Android Headlines even claimed that the brand was being completely dismantled, though OnePlus denied that report.
This outcome didn’t seem inevitable. In 2014, when the OnePlus One arrived, nearly every tech enthusiast I knew was buying the phone. There was a cult-like enthusiasm for OnePlus that was hard to find elsewhere, and it used that community-driven approach to develop and grow a long-lasting, loyal fan base. For a while, it was practically impossible to call any other phone a “good deal” when a OnePlus phone also existed.
But most of the sales were online-only, directly from OnePlus. When it decided to officially launch through carriers in the US, it was probably doomed from the start.
OnePlus first launched on a US carrier in 2018, and according to T-Mobile, nearly 200,000 customers had already been using OnePlus phones on its network before it officially carried the devices. That’s far from Samsung or Apple numbers, which accounted for an estimated 90 percent of all phones sold at US carriers in 2020, but there was a case for T-Mobile trying to capture OnePlus’ growing enthusiast fan base.
OnePlus grew its loyal fan base primarily through its “Never Settle” moniker, implying that you shouldn’t have to settle for inferior specs when you buy an affordable phone. It used the phrase “Flagship killer” to describe this ratio of price to performance, and fans ate it up. Especially in 2014, near the end of the “2-year phone contract era,” people were begging for a device you could buy outright without being locked into a long and resentful relationship with your telecom.
But that’s just not how people buy phones in the US. Here, it’s all about carrier deals, and specifically, bill credits. The bill credit model gets a phone in your hand immediately, often with no upfront cost, and the price of the phone is diluted into your phone plan for 24 to 36 months. T-Mobile will give you a brand new 256GB iPhone 17 Pro today for just $4.16 a month on top of your phone plan. If you’re on AT&T, you can get that same phone for just $2.78 per month, as long as you trade in a phone and “upgrade to a qualifying unlimited plan.” And yes, that qualifying plan starts at $80 a month. If you switch carriers early, you’ll owe the remaining retail cost of the phone.
You can see why this might incentivize a carrier to focus on selling expensive flagships and not “affordable” flagship killers. Carriers want to offer you the idea of a deal, and if your new phone feels like it costs less than three bucks a month, that feels much better than paying $600 out of pocket, even if you’re paying much more than that over time.
What made OnePlus attractive was fundamentally in opposition to this model. What is the value of a $600 “flagship killer” versus a $1,200 flagship if there is no tangible price difference? The carriers need you to stay on their premium plans, and if they’ll only have $600 hanging over your head instead of $1,200, they have less incentive to carry these devices. Add to the fact that reportedly 75 percent of all smartphones sold at carrier stores are now iPhones, with Samsung making up another 15 percent or so, and there isn’t a whole lot of pie left to go around.
The main line that did well for OnePlus in the US is its ultra-affordable Nord series, claiming 428 percent growth for the company in the first half of 2021. But after it lost its deal with T-Mobile in 2022, it was much harder for OnePlus to move volume. The US phone market is carrier dependent in almost every way, and without T-Mobile stores stocking the phones, it became hard for OnePlus to justify even selling the Nord here.
The ethos of OnePlus has always been about value for money. That is fundamentally at odds with the incentive system of the US phone market, which prioritizes trapping users in long-term relationships. OnePlus was already fighting for scraps here. OnePlus tried to kill the flagship, but in the end it was the flagships, sold by carriers, that killed OnePlus.
To understand the full picture, we must look at how the US carrier model evolved. Before 2013, most consumers signed two-year contracts that subsidized the phone cost. You paid $199 for an iPhone with a $70 monthly plan. When carriers eliminated contracts and introduced installment plans, they shifted to bill credits that effectively locked customers in for 24 to 36 months. This shift dramatically favored expensive phones because the monthly installment for a $1,200 phone is about $33 over 36 months, while a $600 phone is only $17. But carriers make their money on the plan, not the hardware. By offering aggressive trade-in deals and bill credits, they can make the $1,200 phone appear to cost the same as the $600 phone in monthly payments. For example, AT&T might offer a $1,000 trade-in credit for an older iPhone, bringing the effective price of a new iPhone to $200, which over 36 months is just $5.56 per month. Compare that to a $600 OnePlus with zero trade-in value—the consumer might pay $16.67 per month. The carrier incentives align perfectly with high-priced flagships, not with value leaders.
OnePlus also struggled with marketing and availability. While it had a passionate online following, it never achieved the brand recognition of Apple or Samsung. Carrier store sales representatives are often incentivized to push certain brands, and OnePlus simply didn't have the margins or the marketing spend to compete for shelf space. Even when T-Mobile carried the OnePlus 6T in 2018, it was not aggressively advertised. The phone sold decently among enthusiasts but failed to capture mainstream attention.
Another factor was the shift in OnePlus's own pricing. Over the years, OnePlus gradually increased its prices, moving from $299 for the OnePlus One to over $800 for the OnePlus 11. This eroded its value proposition. By the time the OnePlus 12 launched at $799, it was competing directly with Samsung's Galaxy S24 and Google's Pixel 8, but without the carrier subsidies that made those phones more affordable on monthly plans. Consumers could get a Galaxy S24 for $0 down and $10 per month, while the OnePlus 12 required either a full upfront payment or a higher monthly installment without trade-in offers.
The OnePlus Open foldable, launched at $1,700, was a critical success but faced the same carrier hurdles. Foldables are niche, and without carrier support, sales were limited to direct online channels. The US foldable market is dominated by Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold and Flip series, which benefit from massive marketing budgets and carrier partnerships.
OnePlus's exit from the US is not entirely surprising given the broader trends. The US smartphone market has consolidated around Apple and Samsung, with Google's Pixel carving out a small but loyal share. Other Android manufacturers like LG, HTC, and Sony have already exited or scaled back. OnePlus's Chinese parent company, BBK Electronics, also owns Oppo, Vivo, and Realme, but none of these brands have made significant inroads into the US. The carrier model presents a massive barrier to entry for any new player.
Looking forward, the US market will continue to be dominated by carrier-led sales. The rise of 5G and mmWave requirements has also increased the cost and complexity of modem certification, making it harder for smaller OEMs to launch phones. OnePlus struggled with certain network bands and features like Wi-Fi calling and VoLTE that require close carrier integration.
In conclusion, OnePlus's US journey reflects the broader reality that successful smartphone brands in America must either be Apple, Samsung, or a carrier-dependent player like Motorola. OnePlus's direct-to-consumer model, which worked brilliantly in Asia and Europe, could never overcome the structural advantages of carrier subsidies and bill credits. Even its best devices, like the OnePlus 15, were met with critical acclaim but minimal sales because consumers perceived them as too expensive upfront. The brand's "flagship killer" ethos simply had no home in a market where flagships are effectively free to the consumer through long-term contracts.
The final lesson is that value does not drive the US smartphone market—financing and carrier lock-in do. OnePlus tried to fight that reality, but the carriers always held the upper hand. Without a carrier partner willing to invest in its lineup, OnePlus was left with no sustainable path forward. The Nord series offered a glimmer of hope, but it was too little, too late. Now, OnePlus joins the long list of tech companies that discovered that the US market is not just competitive but structurally resistant to change.
Source: The Verge News