OnePlus has been visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, and they’ve been convinced to mend their frustrating ways. Either that, or the sales of the OnePlus 2 (which has been widely criticized for its hardware shortcomings) have been less than stellar, and the company no longer needs its rationing system in order to fill demand for the device. Starting on Saturday, the OnePlus 2 will be available for purchase without jumping through the hoops of the invitation system. It’s a friggin’ holiday miracle. The cheaper OnePlus X isn’t getting the same treatment, but you will be able to buy one without an invite from December 5-7.
Of course, the cynical response to this change in policy is that OnePlus hasn’t had the success they had hoped for with the second “flagship killer.” The phone market of today is notably different from the one in which the original OP One made such a noticeable impact, with new mid-range models catering to customers who are no longer relying on carriers’ contract discounts, not to mention Motorola, ASUS, and Nexus phones bringing the price of flagships down quite a bit. The OnePlus Two is still a pretty good deal at $329 for the base model, but not such a good deal that people are clamoring for invitations like they were a year ago.
It’s also telling that the OP2 is shifting to conventional sales less than four months after its release date – that’s something that took the original One almost a year to do.That in and of itself doesn’t necessarily indicate that OnePlus isn’t getting the kind of sales volume it wants… but the fact that the company that “never settles” is now selling an overpriced case for the iPhone, its ostensible competition, is not promising. Speaking of accessories, OnePlus will also be selling OP2 covers for half off, some OP One accessories for 90% off, and other stuff for 10% off. Early orders will get a free mousepad.
- Source:
- OnePlus Forum