OnePlus is planning to exit all non-Chinese markets, including India, by 2027: Report
OnePlus is reportedly planning to phase out all markets outside China; The exit from the US and Europe is expected to begin within a few days and leave India by 2027. Bloomberg Report by citing someone familiar with the subject.
Exit from the US and Europe may begin this week
It appears the first phase of the shutdown will be imminent, with operations in the US and Europe set to end as early as this week. person told Bloomberg The move is part of a broader restructuring at Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corporation Ltd., OnePlus’ parent company, it said.
Realme, another mobile brand owned by Oppo, is also preparing to withdraw separately from the Chinese domestic market as part of the same overhaul.
Why is India on a longer timeline?
Unlike the US and Europe, OnePlus’ exit from India is not immediate. The brand is expected to continue operating in the country before some point in 2027, giving it a longer market presence in one of the more important markets outside of China.
OnePlus will continue to sell phones domestically in China throughout this process, at least for now.
Financial and political pressures behind withdrawal
Oppo’s decision reflects a combination of commercial and geopolitical pressures rather than a single reason. From a business perspective, OnePlus’ phone business is under financial pressure, fueled by weak momentum in the US, European and Indian markets, where the brand has struggled to build meaningful scale against established rivals.
Politically, Chinese smartphone brands continue to face intense scrutiny over their presence in the US market. OnePlus is also a subsidiary of Apple Inc. It is also fighting a lawsuit filed by Apple Inc. alleging misappropriation of trade secrets, adding a new legal challenge to its standing in the West.
Central Europe and the Scandinavians become the new focus
Oppo plans to direct its European strategy towards central Europe rather than withdrawing from the continent completely.
Realme, meanwhile, is positioning itself to focus on the Nordic region, which includes Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland, where the brand is already seeing stronger sales than elsewhere on the continent.
A brand that once rivaled Apple and Samsung in terms of value
OnePlus built its early reputation on a simple pitch: near-flagship performance, a clean software experience, and pricing well below Apple and Samsung. This formula gained a loyal following among Android enthusiasts during its early years on the market.
This effect has since diminished significantly. Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. in the USA. While maintaining its dominance, OnePlus now lags behind smaller players such as Lenovo Group Ltd.’s Motorola and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. While Oppo is doing slightly better in China, it’s still Huawei Technologies Co. and is behind Apple.
Memory chip shortage adds to the pressure
The broader smartphone industry is also struggling with pressure on memory components, driving up production costs and squeezing margins on lower-priced devices. According to figures released by IDC, China’s mobile phone shipments fell 4.3 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period of the previous year.
This shortage hit OnePlus’ budget-focused “Nord” series particularly hard, as the series relied on cheap components to remain profitable. As these costs increased, maintaining a truly low-cost series became very difficult to justify.
A troubled sendoff for OnePlus’ flagship line
The brand’s latest flagship, the OnePlus 15, had a rough launch in the US. Its launch was delayed last year after the Trump government shutdown disrupted the regulatory certification process and dampened launch momentum for one of the last major devices sold in the country.
