The OnePlus 5 will be more expensive than the OnePlus 3T, a known Chinese industry analyst Pan Jiutang said on Thursday. Jiutang took to social media website Weibo to share his predictions regarding the pricing of the upcoming OnePlus flagship, citing a number of different reasons that he believes will lead to an increase in the price tag of the OnePlus 5. As the OnePlus 5 is expected to ship with high-end hardware, some of which is currently in short supply, its production costs are likely going to be higher than those of its predecessor, and given how such differences are traditionally passed on to consumers, the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer will likely opt to increase the price of the device, the analyst said. Likewise, the market will probably see a massive demand for the OnePlus 5 due to a number of reasons and the Shenzhen, Guangdong-based phone maker might opt to increase its price simply because it can, Jiutang speculates.
The latter scenario isn’t out of the realm of possibility given the company’s aggressive product strategy that led it to operate with extremely thin profit margins that are significantly lower to those of comparable Android flagships and may not be sustainable in the long term. That approach is also why OnePlus traditionally discontinues its latest high-end device in the run-up to releasing a new one as lowering the cost of the old handset or simply leaving it to compete with its successor wouldn’t be a viable business strategy, some industry watchers believe. The OnePlus 3T launched in late 2016 sporting a $439 price tag in the United States and was somewhat cheaper in its home country, priced at 2,699 yuan, or approximately $396. Jiutang on Thursday said that the price tag of the OnePlus 5 will likely be closer to 3,000 yuan, i.e. $440. If that prediction turns out to be accurate, the handset may cost $499 in the U.S., though some recent rumors indicated that its price tag might be even higher than that.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer previously confirmed that the OnePlus 5 will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip (SoC), with some industry insiders claiming that it might ship with as much as 8GB of RAM. More details on the device should be available shortly as the handset is expected to be unveiled on or around June 15.