Hong Kong-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus has attained quite a fan base after just one year in operation. The company had launched the OnePlus One last year, its first ever smartphone, which came with flagship hardware, but had the price-tag of a mid-range phone. The device caught on like wildfire amongst enthusiasts, and soon earned the moniker – the “flagship killer”. The smartphone came with the ‘invitation’ system, whereby you needed an invite to actually be able to buy the phone. While the system was universally chastised, it turned out to be a smart marketing move, as people queued up for an invite, leading to plenty of free word-of-the-mouth publicity for the company on the net.
OnePlus launched the device in India several months after its international launch, unsure of the response the startup will get from a notoriously value-conscious, but incredibly lucrative market. Surprisingly for OnePlus, the reception was more than it could have hoped for, and even with the restrictive invitation system, the company still struggled to keep up with demand in the world’s third-largest smartphone market. While customers in India were generally very happy with the device, the one complaint that was pretty common was the standard of after-sales service for the device.
Now, in an effort to calm the nerves of would-be buyers of the next generation device, the company is introducing a 3-month extended warranty exclusively for OnePlus One owners in India. In a statement released on the OnePlus One forum, company staff and forum administrator Vikas wrote, “All service related issues till date that have faced delays or have been pending for longer than 15 working days in support centres will automatically get a 3 month extension on their warranty for their OnePlus One in India. This initiative will continue for all future smartphones from our stable pertaining to the service guarantee”. He also let it be known, that the extended warranty would also apply to the phones bought from the company’s global portal, OnePlus.net even before the device was launched in India.
OnePlus is scheduled to launch its second generation flagship, the OnePlus Two, in a few weeks’ time, and the company is already finding new and innovative ways to market the device by launching two contests – one for photography enthusiasts named Photo Mania 2015, and another for aspiring filmmakers titled Your OnePlus Story. The results of the contests will be announced on June 16th (Tuesday), and the winners will not just get the new OnePlus Two, but will also get to travel to the Hong Kong headquarters of the company, and be a part of the launch, where they’ll “get to play a pivotal role in a secret project” according to OnePlus. However, the OnePlus Two is not the only phone the company will be launching this year. There’s talk of a new mid-ranger, which will also be launched alongside the flagship.