Although the launch of a new flagship was confirmed by CEO Pete Lau as early as January, the as yet officially nameless device was given a wide launch window of ‘Q2 2018’. That fits the historical pattern, but there are some good arguments for an earlier appearance.
OnePlus 5T Sandstone White Edition (photo: Ewan Spence)
This last week has seen the current handset – the OnePlus 5T – show up as ‘out of stock’ in US markets. for most manufactures that means informing customers of a delay as more handsets are built, but OnePlus works to a slightly different beat. Once the planned run of handsets is complete, that’s it. Timings generally allow for a OnePlus had set to sell out shortly before the launch of the next model. That results in no ‘old’ stock hanging around the factory, offers guaranteed numbers for managing the supply chain, and forces OnePlus into lots of small constant evolutions for each subsequent generation.
The latter means that fans know that there is always something better around the corner which could mean a hindrance to sales… if OnePlus pushed for a handset with a long life-cycle. Instead the One Plus handset model is more like the Swatch wristwatch model – you buy a handset that has guaranteed support for years, but the constant refreshing of the line with models and special editions means that fashion and look plays a bigger part in the smartphone cycle than other brands that lock into a look and milk it for multiple years.
OnePlus has confirmed that the North American model is not only sold out, but there will be no more 5T models placed on sale. The target of sales has been achieved, so it is time for the next model to rock up.
That model is expected to sport a display with the fashion accessory du jour – the notch – along with the SnapDragon 845 system on chip, 128 GB of storage, 6GB of RAM, USB-C with OnePlus’ Dash Charge rapid charging over USB-C, and an improved facial recognition unlocking system.
Could the Oppo R15 hint at the OnePLus 6 design(Press Image)
The question now is if OnePlus will stick to the expected schedule, or move up the launch of the OnePlus 6 by a few weeks to help sate demand.