Why it spells the end of OnePlus as we know it

Towards the end of last year, we published an opinion piece entitled “OnePlus’ Oppo-ification Is Getting Worse”. The piece essentially argued that OnePlus is slowly turning into Oppo. We pointed out the departure of co-founder Carl Pei and the publication of blatant Oppo rebrandings as important touchstones.

Now we have the news from OnePlus CEO and co-founder Pete Lau that the company is entering a new phase that he called “OnePlus 2.0”. However, I consider this to be a misnomer. From what Lau has told us so far, it’s not OnePlus 2.0, but “OppoPlus 1.0”.

See also: Everything you need to know about OnePlus

Lau claims Oxygen OS will either exist by name or simply be replaced by an as yet nameless unified operating system that will land on both OnePlus and Oppo phones. The once individual engineering and development teams at OnePlus and Oppo are now fully merged. Significantly, the only teams that haven’t merged are PR, who will continue to work individually on their respective brands.

The writing is on the wall. The OnePlus oppo-ification that we called last year is now complete. It’s the end of an era.

But OnePlus has always been Oppo, right?

Those of you who have read this and followed the evolution of OnePlus probably think that OnePlus and Oppo have always been interchangeable. Despite what both companies claim to the contrary, it’s easy to draw straight lines from a OnePlus product to the Oppo product that “inspired” it.

While I will readily agree that OnePlus existed on the back of Oppo from the start, OnePlus quickly became a thing of its own. His products had a unique style, his software was very different, and his branding and “attitude” were in stark contrast to Oppos. To me, OnePlus was similar to Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker: he made the role an incredible deal on its own, despite the obvious inspiration from Heath Ledger’s earlier portrayal of the same character.

Related: A story of the entire OnePlus lineup so far

Now, however, Lau seems to be moving away from this unique identity as quickly as possible. In fact, he even made a short documentary about it. The title “New Journey” deals with the move of OnePlus employees to new shared offices with Oppo employees. It’s as depressing and boring as it sounds. Most revealingly, though, there is a section where a OnePlus employee describes the brand’s early days as “dangerous” and admits that the identity is now gone. It couldn’t be more direct.

I am sure Lau has reasons to initiate this huge transition. Perhaps OnePlus is not doing well enough financially. Perhaps he feels that shedding the “dangerous” aspects of the business makes it more successful in the long run. Or maybe it’s not really about OnePlus, but rather a tactical shift to lift Oppo into markets it can’t touch, like the United States.

Anyway, OnePlus and Oppo have always been connected, but different. But that is no longer true.

As usual with OnePlus, there are a lot of question marks hanging around the unveiling of OnePlus 2.0. We don’t know the name of the unified operating system that will hybridize Oxygen OS and Color OS. Frustratingly, we also don’t know the full list of OnePlus / Oppo phones that will receive this new operating system. We don’t know what the determining factors will be whether a new device has an Oppo logo or a OnePlus logo. So many questions.

As mentioned earlier, we know that the Oppo / OnePlus teams are now merged (having unfortunately lost about 20% of the Oppo team). However, the single large team will have breakout teams who lead the development of new products. In other words, the team that will make the next Oppo phone might have a different group of people than the one that is designing the next OnePlus phone, although they could all come from the same pool and even have a crossover. Lau seems very confident that this will lead to better products.

However, to me, this just seems like a recipe for homogeneity. It is not easy for a designer to juggle the subtle differences between a company’s products internally. It is inevitable that some aspects of each variant will go over the top. Ultimately, this could mean there isn’t much of a difference between an Oppo phone and a OnePlus phone – especially when you consider that the software is pretty much the same on both!

The bottom line here is that those of you out there who think there has been little difference between the OnePlus and Oppo over the years have not seen anything. If the oppo-ification of OnePlus continues unabated, you can quickly see how different OnePlus really was.

It’s clear from our conversations with Pete Lau about OnePlus 2.0 that he thinks this is great news for fans of the brand. He praised many positive aspects such as better / faster research and development, faster and more stable software updates and an expanded portfolio that is better tailored to specific regions.

While this all sounds great, it doesn’t mean much to OnePlus fans when the brand’s entire identity is sacrificed. It kind of reminds me of the Windows 8 debacle. Microsoft has tried to completely overhaul Windows, make it more touch-oriented, and remove Windows staples like the Start button. People hated it. They hated it because Windows has looked a certain way since it was first introduced and that’s what people expect. It’s part of the brand identity.

Eventually, Windows 8.1 brought back a dummy start button, but even that wasn’t enough. Windows 10 brought back the original look and feel of Windows and people loved it again. I’m worried that Lau is making the same mistake here with OnePlus 2.0. He thinks it’s a rise for the brand to new heights, but from my seat it looks like a brand is giving up the elements that people really like about it.

From my point of view, there is no way for Lau to influence this positively. OnePlus 2.0 is actually just OppoPlus 1.0 and means the end of one of my personal favorite smartphone brands.