OnePlus's script has always been different from others.
Established in 2013, when OnePlus was busy playing the market with low-end mobile phones in China, it buried its head in high-end and polished the ultimate details.
In recent years, as the growth of the mobile phone market has slowed down, from incremental to stock, mobile phone manufacturers have turned the front of the car and successively shouted out the slogan of "high-end", hoping to exchange a higher level for more premiums. At this time, OnePlus has been precipitating in the high-end market for many years, and chose to further go to the mass market in the 8th year.
Coming and going, going and going, OnePlus never seems to stand in the trend, only taking the road that they think is right at the moment.
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Founded 8 years ago, Yiplus spent the first 7 years to become one of the representatives of domestic high-end mobile phones, well known to technology enthusiasts, but still not a "popular product".
In the past, one plus only produced 2-3 products a year, simple but niche mobile phone systems, and "pinched" high-end details. This is somewhat out of place in the market where machine-sea tactics are prevalent and various new systems are competing, but in fact it has attracted a group of old users who pursue "no burden" doctrine.
Looking back at one plus's past, there are several generations of models that have to be mentioned.
In 2014, the OnePlus 1 was born, the first model to pay attention to the feel. Liu Zuohu's classic sentence "This feels really TMD cool" not only pushed the heat of the time, but also revealed a kind of excitement and sincerity that is difficult to hide, which impressed the first batch of "come on" (one plus fans).
Time magazine first published a Chinese mobile phone review that year, and the evaluation of one plus 1 was "It's hard to imagine a better phone for Android geeks" (it is hard to imagine such a suitable mobile phone for Android enthusiasts). ”
In 2015, the OnePlus 2 became the world's first model without fingerprint unlocking physical key range, and Apple followed this wave of operations the following year, Liu Zuohu commented that "both sides have the same understanding of the user experience", with a little pride in restraint.
Of course, this year is more important is the mobile phone system known for its minimalism - hydrogen OS.
This operating system, which lacks fancy design and features, reserves a "pure land" for users who do not like advertising. Although OnePlus sacrificed a part of its revenue for this, it directly demonstrated its determination to make high-end products to users from the business model.
What is more exciting is that the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro in 2019 have opened up a new world of domestic mobile phones with a refresh rate of up to 90Hz and entered the era of high frame screen.
By 2020, the sales of mobile phones with screen refresh rates above 90Hz in the Chinese market have increased from 1% in 2019 to 20% – the market recognition is enough to prove that this is a successful innovation.
Of course, any new attempt requires someone to be ahead of the curve, educating the market, educating suppliers, educating the industry, and Samsung is grateful for one plus's attempts in OLED 2K screens.
As for why hard work on the screen, at this point, OnePlus is smart - in the process of human-computer interaction, the screen is the largest input and output port, and the use experience directly affects the user's liking for the entire mobile phone.
In 2020, the advantages of OnePlus are still there, as the latest brand flagship machine released in the first half of the year, the OnePlus 8 series was given a double A+ level certification by the authoritative screen testing agency DisplayMate, of which 13 display levels reached the highest record ever recorded by this institution.
In today's domestic mobile phone towards high-end development, the tide of stacking materials and homogenization competition has become a trap that needs to be vigilant, and there are many calls to break the internal volume of parameters, but it should not be just a slogan.
Looking back at one plus's past innovations, moderate thoughtfulness is still what today's mobile phone market needs. As Liu Zuohu wrote on Weibo posted on December 17 this year: "We are always innovating to find new answers to create a better user experience." ”
New answers
In addition to breaking the parameter inner volume, OnePlus also began to try to break the long-standing perception of the outside world.
At the beginning of the 8th year, Yiplus stretched out from niche and high-end corners, trying to reach a wider mass market while maintaining a high-end attitude.
The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro released in March 2021 can see the changes in product and marketing of OnePlus - in addition to the high frame rate screen as always, OnePlus has reached a cooperation with Swedish camera brand Hasselblad for the first time, and has also replaced new spokespersons Zhou Xun and Hu Ge.
Of course, these collaborations are not new, but partners often reflect the orientation and tone of the brand itself.
From the result point of view, The Hasselblad chosen by OnePlus is a rare luxury in the industry that takes into account practicality, and Zhou Xun and Hu Ge are representatives of both strength and appearance. OnePlus' move toward the mass market is restrained and accurate.
The changes on the system should be the biggest. The former hydrogen OS operating system, as a native system, although there is a lot of room for senior Android users to exert themselves, retaining a concise and refreshing experience, but if you want to further go to a larger market, it is obvious that OnePlus wants to meet the needs of more users.
After a long period of testing, other Android manufacturers have proved that smoothness and richness do not conflict. Since it has the determination to do the mass market, OnePlus needs to change - starting with the OnePlus 9 series equipped with the ColorOS system. In Liu Zuohu's words, it can be achieved "familiar with a brisk and smooth, more comprehensive functional experience."
As for the expansion of product lines, going to the mass market will inevitably launch models with downward price segments, and this year's OnePlus 9R and OnePlus 9RT are representatives. At the same time, OnePlus also began to start from the basic Iot products, released the first watch, and covered more people who had demand for flagship products with more categories of products.
gift
Unlike the difficulty of many brands breaking through upwards, doing a good job of high-end one plus, the road to the public will be easier to break through than other manufacturers.
Moving from a low-end product line to a high-end product line, consumers need to pay a premium for the product beyond recognition, and need to go through a process of doubt. The brand side has to spend a lot of effort to polish the high-end tone from channels, products, marketing and other aspects. Both sides must break free from an invisible shackle.
The market has a basic understanding of one plus's brand tone and product strength, one plus with the help of "high-end" energy storage to the mass market, at this time one plus launched a number of product lines at the right price, more like a dimensionality reduction blow, the resistance is much smaller.
Therefore, at the end of the 8th year, the sales target of 10 million yuan was completed ahead of schedule, which proved the feasibility of this route and also ended the change process of this year.
On December 17, 2021, Liu Zuohu sighed on Weibo, "Time passes quickly, and this year is the 8th year of the establishment of OnePlus. Previously, we expected global sales to exceed 10 million by the end of this year, and driven by the rapid growth of Singles' Day, we completed this small goal ahead of schedule. ”
The reason why "10 million" has become a node for Liu Zuohu's feelings is because the industry generally believes that only at such a market scale can the brand have enough voice to affect customers, upstream and supply chains, grasp a certain right to speak and cultivate the entire ecosystem.
In short, the voices of one plus in the future will be listened to by more people.
If you add up this year's complex industry background, this "small goal" is even more difficult to come by.
On December 2, IDC released the "Global Smartphone Tracking Report" and pointed out that the global smartphone shipment growth forecast for 2021 was lowered from 7.4% to 5.3%, further reducing the growth expectation of mobile phone shipments this year.
Behind this is the comprehensive impact of the extension of the mobile phone replacement cycle, the transformation of the mobile phone market from incremental to stock, and the impact on global supply and demand under the epidemic.
In this case, one plus's performance is even more extraordinary.
According to the global war report released by OnePlus in the first half of 2021, in the past six months, OnePlus's global shipments increased by 257% year-on-year.
In the domestic market, the shipment volume of OnePlus China increased by 124% year-on-year, far exceeding the 6.5% growth rate of the domestic mobile phone market in the first half of the year, and all the high-end flagship machines sold were more than 3,000 yuan.
In terms of foreign markets, in the US market, OnePlus is the fastest growing mobile phone brand, with shipments in the first half of the year increasing by 428% year-on-year; in the European market and the Indian market, OnePlus won the first and second quarter high-end market share in the second quarter.
The mobile phone industry has long entered the era of stock competition. At present, whether it is a new purchase or a replacement, the overall growth trend of the market has declined, the traffic dividend has peaked, and consumers are becoming more and more rational.
In this case, OnePlus is not only growing, but also blossoming at home and abroad, which is a qualified report card.
It also proves that the original "small and beautiful" one plus can actually be tall, large, wide and wide.