Many of us at our studio are iPhone users. But we have our share of Oneplus holdouts too. Two of my colleagues said Oneplus's camera and fast-charging feature made them a fan for life, and they are waiting for the latest model to upgrade their premium smartphones. But Oneplus has something different in mind altogether. It is strategically shifting its focus away from premium smartphones, even though it’s launching the Oneplus 11 series today. The smartphone brand with a cult-like following is part of BBK Electronics—the biggest smartphone seller in India. The Chinese conglomerate controls more than 40% of the entire smartphone market through Oneplus and four other brands: Oppo, Vivo, Realme, and iQOO. And for years, especially towards the end of the 2010s, Oneplus dominated the premium segment—phones priced above INR 30,000 (~$360). But not anymore. The brand is now a distant third behind Apple and Samsung, with the iPhone maker cornering ~60% of the rapidly growing segment in the country. That's because Oneplus unlocked a new market by launching a smartphone in the mid-range category— INR 15,000-30,000 ($180-360). And BBK decided to leverage synergies between Oppo and Oneplus. Oppo made the most of Oneplus's skills—from learning to sell online to even entering the premium segment. While Oneplus, on the other hand, learnt a thing or two about selling products offline. But in loosening its hold on the premium segment, the phone maker is altering something fundamental about itself...
