OnePlus (1) was founded in 2014 and grew extremely quickly. Acquiring one million sales in 2014 itself, he raised Oneplus in a matter of 6 months. The company grew in size and became bigger than ever. The company’s first smartphone venture, OnePlus One, blew the market away. With a style of marketing and sale strategy, they grew their consumer base. Even today, some users use their OnePlus one that still works finer than before. With constant over the air updates and security updates, the OnePlus Carl Pei grew until today. Carl Pei was an instant hit and inspiration for entrepreneurs across the world. The company then grew and expanded to other countries like North America, London, India, China, etc. Rather than expanding to every other country, they stick to the market hotspots and concentrate on them (2).
Now, Carl Pei (3), the Swedish Entrepreneur, is leaving his beloved company for better ventures. As a co-founder, he served and grew OnePlus for six-plus glorious years. His future ventures involve an audio company to explore the loopholes and make better audio devices in the market. As an entrepreneur, he currently raised seven million dollars, which are close to 50 crores. He aspires to build a revolutionary audio device that is an all-rounder at user experience and enhances any media product’s audio stimuli. The company is still in pre-production, and he is currently building a team that will engage in market analysis, tech and development team, research, and development team. Carl Pei is certainly a genius of a kind and knows how to master any product to digital and technological art. OnePlus’s success is very instrumental, and the company’s Growth during Carl Pei’s time is crucial to learn.
Carl has been actively trying to convince media and customers worldwide to try OnePlus products ever since the company began. This ultimately made Carl an active company face. He had a major role in the formation of the OnePlus Nord launch. Although neither the company nor Carl himself has officially announced anything, reports about his departure emerge just before the onePlus 8T launch, which happened on October 14. Carl himself revealed during an interview that OnePlus planned to start up the Nord series in the US in 2020. His departure was also surprising.
OnePlus: A story of Success and Growth
OnePlus’ most important marketing technique was selling their phones only and authorizing them to buy customers who received an invitation from the company. Guests had distributed invites through different promotions and competitions, and owners of OnePlus can also share guest invites with friends. The brand reached a sales volume where the invite model alone can be phased out. Still, OnePlus has acquired a specialist of technology enthusiasts in this word-of-mouth strategy to build a community of committed customers, which generate an emotional sense of the brand and its products online. In his first year of trading worldwide, 1.5 million phones were sold by OnePlus, which meant that while small in the Industry, Pei and his fellow Chinese tech team founded the business, and it significantly exceeded expectations (4).
Pei appears to believe that many customer expectations combine to attract more OnePlus customers, such as an increase in online companies and an eagerness among youth to show that they are unique and find brands with which to identify. India is currently the largest country market for OnePlus, but a large proportion of its sales are also in Europe, following the USA and China. The youth are often open to new brands that represent something and are open to online purchases. “We’re witnessing many new brands in the United States, such as Warby Parker for online glasses, or Harry for rusting materials.” (5) This use of digital channels to raise awareness and selling is typical of marketing OnePlus so far. Still, it has also been criticized for using social media promotions – particularly after its ‘Ladies First’ campaign in August 2014. It is a new business model for direct communication.”
The long-term company’s strategy of OnePlus relies on its ability to build brand confidence and affinity to monitor its marketing performance closely. It also focuses on an especially ‘ethical approach to its customer relations, as illustrated by the comparatively low price of its phones and its decision, following its free shipping advertisement to retroactively refund eligible customers. Pei was born in China but grew up in Sweden following the emigration of his parents. He moved to China in 2010 to start his career in technology and started his marketing internship at the Nokia office in Beijing. He later worked with some of his Oppo colleagues in Chinese electronics groups like Meizu and Oppo before starting OnePlus. Pei reveals that OnePlus can now invest in advertising, although he insists on building its community by word of mouth. He is particularly aware that the OnePlus brand difference needs to be maintained in an extremely competitive environment.
The company grew to heights after the success of the OnePlus One. Then came the launch of the OnePlus X. It was said that it would completely take over huge brands like Samsung and Apple, even though Samsung was launching their Samsung S7 and Apple was launching their iPhone 6 series. It would not be feasible for OnePlus to attain that attraction which the bigger brands received. Carl Pei’s vision didn’t stop them from progressing. The phone attained success, and this further escalated the brand. OnePlus 3 was their last 16:9 venture before they entered the notch trend (6). OnePlus five and the OnePlus 5T series were the first phones that raised the standards for the literal future; with better RAM’s and ROM’s and features, it paved the way for the other phones in their market to attain better and improved flagship features. The OnePlus 7 entered into In-built screen fingerprint sensors that the Industry struggled to adapt to. The company is now growing on to its next flagship, and that’s when Carl Pei moved on to his next venture.
Moving on: The next venture
Carl Pei had parted from the corporate he helped kick begin again in 2013 together with Pete Lau. Again, not a lot was revealed regarding the subsequent steps he could be taken together with his profession. Media reviews claimed that Pei would begin a brand new firm loosely based on audio. Pei had announced that he had accomplished a seven million spherical in seed financing from family and friends to start a brand new enterprise. He had not disclosed anything about the new enterprise; however, he had stated that the company’s main formation would probably be made obtainable in early 2021. The seven million funding will help Pei arrange a workplace ahead in London.
Pei, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus’s long public face, surprised many when he announced he would leave the company in October. Over the years, he has played a role in the design and marketing of the OnePlus smartphone lineup. Pei said he left the company because, for the past seven years, OnePlus has been his main focus. He says, “I never regretted trusting my guts, and it’s no different this time. OnePlus has been my unique focus in recent years, and everything else has been backstage. I am happy to take some time off to unpack my family and friends and then to follow my passions” (7).
Funding and Farewell
Whatever it’s all about, Pei has raised around seven million before going for Series A funding to amass a stellar lineup of seed investors. Tony Fadell, former vice president of Apple, often called “the iPod’s father,” lends substantial support to anything more than music. Like Reddit, Steve Huffman’s co-founder and CEO. Kevin Lin, co-founder of Twitch, and Josh Buckley, CEO of Product Hunt, also joined and supported it. Casey Neistat, the vlogger millionaire and co-founder of Berne, which was later acquired by CNN, is in the game. While confirming that several hardware prototype pieces will be produced in 2021, Pei explains that the focus is larger than just the headphones of this new company(8).
The entrepreneur had put up his farewell message: “I made the difficult decision to say goodbye after almost seven years at OnePlus. I have grown up and spent much time on the internet, building products and communities. I was very happy to see that ideas could be made real in one’s mind, and I knew that this was the way for me. No other smartphone brand was needed worldwide in 2013. But we saw better ways to do things, and we dreamed that things would get better. Best products. Better products. Hand-built in our users’ hand. More affordable prices. Fast forward to the present, and OnePlus is a powerful force for flagship smartphones. And this success will continue in new market segments with the new Nord product line.
When OnePlus began, I was only 24 years old, and I spent most of my twenties and grew up in that place. From my first nervous interview to the first time, I presented a product in the face of severe stage fear, and I didn’t know how to manage a team. It was a real journey. I can’t begin to imagine something more rewarding than the things we’ve accomplished and learned. Before we even had a product, our community joined the movement when we had only ambitions and ideas. I thank everyone for believing in us all these years, as hundreds of people showed up to have ice cream with me, as well as thousands of people attending our launch events and tens of millions buying our products worldwide. And the team. And the team. The incredible people with whom I was fortunate to fight. The most valuable parts of the tour are the friendships I make here. The company is in competent hands with them.
I am ever grateful to Pete for taking this child with nothing to his name but a dream without a college degree. Confidence, mentoring, and comradeship are never forgotten. Thank you for a lifetime opportunity. I never regretted that I trusted my guts, and it’s not different this time. OnePlus has been my unique focus in recent years, and everything else has been backstage. My family and friends are looking forward to some time to unpack and catch up. Then follow my heart to the next thing.
With Regards, Carl” (8)
Building a better future
Carl Pei’s exit might be a shocker to a few, but not for those who understand the man and his motives. Carl Pei’s existence has been influential to the growth of the Industry. Ever since Samsung and Apple blew up, there hasn’t been a single mobile company that the statistics as close as what OnePlus achieved in decades. Though they differed compared to how Apple produces their device and how Samsung produces its device, there is a very minute difference: They do not fail to impact every flagship. Cal had taken this concept very dear to heart, and thus his slogan “Never Settle” really paved the way for the growth of OnePlus and an honest community.
