Reports of OnePlus exiting the Indian market as well as a broader plan to kill the brand have been blown out of proportion. The company has strongly denied any such plans and called it an “unproven claim.” OnePlus is owned by Chinese electronics giant BBK Electronics, which also owns Oppo and Vivo, and has been largely operating as a sub-brand of Oppo since 2021, though it is classified more as a strategic partnership with software and hardware synergy. The past year has undoubtedly been quite a challenging year for OnePlus in India for a number of reasons, but the brand remains a strong player in the premium smartphone sector, especially at what is largely considered to be the ‘Android flagship-killer’ price point.
OnePlus India CEO Robin Liu in an official statement has urged all stakeholders to verify information in the wake of false reports, and stressed that business operations will continue as usual. He says, “I wanted to address some of the misinformation circulating about OnePlus India and its operations. We are operating as usual and will continue to do so.”
In fact, the last few quarters have been tough for OnePlus in India. CyberMedia Research (CMR) had said in its third quarter report that OnePlus had reported a 13% decline in Q3 2025 compared to the same period a year earlier. At the time, the OnePlus 13 series had flown the flag as the company’s flagship phones, contributing 40% of total phone shipments, while the rest of the share was occupied by the company’s more affordable smartphone portfolio, the Nord series.
Still, data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) for the same quarter pointed to a silver lining in an apparently dark cloud for OnePlus. He noted that in the mid-premium smartphone sector, which is typically the band between $400-$600 (which will change in the middle). ₹36,000 more ₹55,000), OnePlus is among the top three players along with Samsung and Oppo. It is projected to have 2.4% share in India’s smartphone market by the third quarter of 2025.
Since then, OnePlus has refreshed the flagship smartphone portfolio, including the OnePlus 15 flagship (No. 14 was dropped) in November, followed by the slightly more value-oriented OnePlus 15R in December. The smartphone maker expects these launches to contribute to increased shipments in the first quarter of this year. Not launching a successor to the foldable OnePlus Open, which was slated to be released in 2023, has also hurt customer confidence – this at a time when Samsung has made significant leaps into the foldable space with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, along with Huawei which sells foldable phones in some countries, and rival Vivo which also impressed with the X.
OnePlus needs to pay close attention to the pricing element this year, especially with phones like the OnePlus 15R and OnePlus 13R, which also faced some overlap from its Nord siblings, including the OnePlus Nord 5. The risk of diluting brand identity in its strongest price band is real. OnePlus would do well to let its flagship phone portfolio deal with the needs of customers in this price band, and not confuse matters with the Nord overlap. The Nord is considered to be a more “affordable” phone line-up, and doesn’t necessarily offer a powerful flagship-esque experience.
Secondly, quality has become a concern in recent months, with many users reporting the dreaded ‘green line’ issue with the display, especially after software updates are installed. It has taken away the premium positioning that OnePlus had carved out for its phones over the years. OnePlus also removed the Hasselblad partnership from the latest flagship phones, which may reduce the confidence of consumers especially considering photography capabilities.
At the same time, there are disputes among retailers in many states of the country over profit margins and delays in warranty processing (including Green Line claims). The inability to find OnePlus phones in store shelves in many regions of India put the company on the back foot at a time when the competition was looking for every inch of retail space in offline stores as well as online marketplaces.
For now, OnePlus’ competitors such as Apple, Xiaomi and even its siblings Vivo and Oppo have a significantly higher market share. This is lost ground that will not be easy to regain, but OnePlus will have to do so.