Taking time to reflect on things is often a good idea and can help give us clarity and perspective. It gives us time to think about the bigger picture, and to look back at everything we have done and accomplished. OnePlus has been doing this recently now that they are reaching their almost 6 month mark since becoming a company and announcing their very first device, the OnePlus One. For enthusiasts as well as those at OnePlus, it has been a wild ride and will only become more exciting as time goes on and the phone becomes more available. During their short time so far though OnePlus has gotten their fare share of criticism as would any new company, and as the old saying goes, your first impression is the last impression. While this isn’t necessarily always true, OnePlus is doing what they can to make the best first impression possible. As part of their reflection on the journey so far, OnePlus has taken the time to post a few short stories to their OnePlus forum boards, with their latest, Chapter 3, discussing the misunderstandings that some people may have had about them up until this point.
The point of all this has been so that they might be able to help people better understand the reasoning behind the decisions they have made. As OnePlus mentions in their post, part of the misunderstandings could very well be due to degraded communication because of the unforeseen explosive popularity that OnePlus began to get. We can look at these posts as OnePlus attempts to better communicate with the people and consumers who might be interested in their products, as well as the community as a whole and those who might be members of the Oneplus forums. They cover some great questions in the post and we’ll do our best to sum them up here. One thing that has been getting a lot of negative attention is the lack of specific release dates. OnePlus explains that many things play a role in the launch timeframe of a new device especially for a new company like them, such as legal issues, partnerships, logistics, and certifications etc. and that sticking to a precise date with all of these things is near impossible.
They also cover the questions about the invite system, which has probably gotten them the most negative attention throughout their entire lifespan as a company. When you think about it though, is the invite system really so bad? OnePlus reasons for doing so is that it allows them to better manage the flow of devices and completely control how many phones are in circulation. Controlling the flow of phones that hit the market allows the parts of their product and company to scale along with their sales volume, which they believe can help to ensure that each customer has a certain level of service. This would be infinitely harder to do with a pre-order system and they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand, and customers would be even more unhappy than with having to wait for invites.
In having to wait however, some customers may have decided that they had waited long enough and just bought another phone. OnePlus has responded to this by saying they think that is great and that people shouldn’t settle for the OnePlus One if it isn’t what they really want. They truly believe that you shouldn’t settle for something that you’ll be using every day, stating that life is short and you should be happy with your choice. We have to agree with them and say that you should buy what really makes you happy. It’s your device, so own it and go with what you really want. This is also part of the never settle motto. They also cover issues and concerns over launch regions, the OnePlus forums, and people’s opinions about the One being over-hyped as well as the fear that the One will be outdated by the time most people actually end up being able to buy it and receive it, and all those questions and issues are addressed appropriately. For a new company that is trying to do some really big things, OnePlus seems to have been managing things just fine and while they have a couple of areas to improve, they’re aware of this and look to be doing what they can to better experiences. You can read the full “Story of OnePlus: Chapter 3” at the link below.