For Android fans, this marks the end of a big era. OnePlus is ending in Europe and North America with the launch of new products. The brand that once shook the market with the legendary slogan “Never Settle” and smartphones marketed as flagship killers is pulling out of the markets where it built a large part of its community. However, this does not mean OnePlus as a brand is immediately going under.
New OnePlus phones won’t be coming to Europe anymore
The company has officially confirmed that it will no longer launch new products in Europe and North America. Existing devices won’t become unsupported overnight, though. OnePlus and its parent company OPPO have promised to continue honoring warranties, after-sales service, and the promised software updates. Plus, existing device stock can still be sold going forward.
The US OnePlus Community will end on August 16, 2026 at 23:59 ET, while the European community remains available for now. Totally different situation right now in India. There, the brand continues selling its products normally, and on July 31 it even launched a new OnePlus N6x. Bloomberg reports possible OnePlus exit from India in 2027, but this has not been confirmed by the company itself so far.
A brand that changed the market in 2014
The whole situation feels even more unusual when you look at OnePlus’s beginnings. The brand was founded in late 2013 by Pete Lau and Carl Pei, and by April 2014, OnePlus One was already here. The smartphone for roughly 299 dollars offered a 5,5-inch Full HD display, Snapdragon 801 and 3 GB of RAM at a time when Samsung Galaxy S5 was launching at about twice the price. OnePlus therefore had every right to present it as a “Flagship Killer.”
Next came the OnePlus 3, 5T models and the legendary OnePlus 7 Pro with a motorized pop-up selfie camera, a QHD+ display, and a 90 Hz refresh rate. OnePlus was among the brands that helped push high refresh rates into mainstream smartphones. At the same time, it built a large fan base thanks to its clean and extremely smooth OxygenOS.
From a “flagship killer,” it gradually became a typical flagship
The problem was the steady rise in prices. The original 299 dollars ended up climbing to roughly the 8 dollar mark with the OnePlus 900 Pro. OnePlus therefore moved directly into Samsung, Google, and Apple’s pricing territory, and especially the cameras often failed to reach the level of the best competitors. The answer was the Nord series in 2020—but instead of flagship hardware at a mid-range price, it offered the usual mid-tier components.
That same year, co-founder Carl Pei left, later founding Nothing. An even more significant shift happened in 2021, when OnePlus announced deeper integration with OPPO. Gradually, OxygenOS moved closer to ColorOS, and more and more models appeared on the market that were technically based on OPPO or Realme devices. According to many fans, OnePlus was slowly losing the identity that once set it apart from the rest.
OPPO poured more than $1 billion into OnePlus
That wasn’t because OPPO planned to simply let its brand die. In 2022, OPPO announced an investment of up to 10 billion yuan / approximately $1.43 billion over three years. Even that couldn’t stop the problems, though. According to figures cited in a ZONEofTECH video, OnePlus’s global sales fell from roughly 17 million smartphones in 2023 to 13–14 million in 2024. A similar trend could be seen in India, where the brand had about a 1.7% share in the first quarter of 2026.
In September 2025, OnePlus’s five-year partnership with Hasselblad also came to an end, while OPPO kept its collaboration with the Swedish photo brand. Another issue was the sharp increase in RAM, storage, and other component prices—something that hit especially hard the phones with an aggressive price-to-hardware ratio.
Why did OnePlus fail, according to ZONEofTECH?
Daniel from ZONEofTECH sees one of the biggest mistakes in the lack of focus on the US market. The problem also included weaker relationships with US carriers. TechRadar lists among the reasons both Samsung and Apple’s massive competition, other Chinese manufacturers, a shrinking segment of tech enthusiasts, and a crisis in the components market.
ZONEofTECH also points out another interesting mistake. OnePlus often launched phones first in China and only later globally. Tech reviewers therefore covered the Chinese reveal, and a few months later they didn’t pay the same attention to the European launch. The combination of a fading identity, higher prices, and ever tighter ties with OPPO gradually took away what made OnePlus stand out in the beginning.
OxygenOS is set for another major change
For current OnePlus owners, there’s another big update on the way. Supported devices are expected to switch from OxygenOS to ColorOS over the coming period. OPPO says this will ensure continued software support. According to available information, users will also be able to go back to OxygenOS, but that likely means they’ll miss out on future updates.
In Europe, OnePlus’s role may increasingly be filled by OPPO itself, which has already announced a plan to boost investments and strengthen its European presence. Future OnePlus 16 and other devices may still be made for China or certain remaining markets. For European fans, that means the option to import Chinese models could remain, but official European OnePlus premieres are, at least in their current form, a thing of the past.
Have you ever had a OnePlus?
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