14 DAY TRIAL // Many smartphone developers don’t limit their business to handsets and accessories, but also tap into the wearables market and develop smartwatches or fitness trackers to go along with their flagship phones. Expansion is always the goal in business, but market trends are unpredictable, and initial plans sometimes get scrapped.
This was the case of OnePlus, which reportedly intended to launch a smartwatch to the market last year but decided against it. The company's founder and CEO Pete Lau has stated in an interview that they had completed the design of the smartwatch last year but decided to scrap it and focus on flagship smartphones instead.
The interview for The Wall Street Journal doesn’t reveal anything else about the smartwatch’s specs, but one guess is that the device would have been powered by Android Wear. The CEO hasn’t provided any details on the product’s design or at least its name.
CEO Pete Lau has pointed that the company has built a niche following in the high-end smartphone market and needs to focus on that market segment, rather than to tap on new grounds such as the wearables market.
Moto 360 competes against Huawei and LG smartwatches
Whatever the reason behind this decision, OnePlus would have had some tough competitors on this market, with Moto 360 being one of the most popular smatwatches out there, alongside other such devices by Huawei and LG.
OnePlus’s decision to focus on offering fans powerful flagship phones culminates with the launch of the OnePlus 3. The company’s latest gem, the OnePlus 3, will be unveiled on June 15, during an event held entirely in VR.
OnePlus has bent over backwards to make this unveiling special, as it has even given away 30,000 Loop VR headsets and will be providing 30 lucky fans with OnePlus 3 devices to write reviews. OnePlus 3 will be available for purchase on June 6.