OnePlus was one of the brands that made online sales a rage. Since the first OnePlus phone launched in 2014, the brand has been known for selling its phones online. However, it has in recent times started showing more interest in the offline, traditional retail market also.
Many say this is because the brand’s portfolio has been expanding. In the early days, OnePlus’ main target audience was the geek crowd, which was comfortable with online transactions, but as its consumer profile has changed, the brand has started giving more importance to offline channels. The brand’s closer association with Oppo is also believed to be influencing this approach.
And if our sources are to be believed, OnePlus is going to use offline channels extensively to sell its next device. Believed to be the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, the phone is likely to be the most affordable new OnePlus phone in the market, with a price that is expected to be below Rs 20,000. OnePlus had dropped hints about it prior to MWC at Barcelona, referring to it as its most affordable 5G device. Although no official specs have been released, leaks indicate that the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite will come with a 6.58-inch FHD+ display and be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chip. Leaks also indicate that it will also have a 64-megapixel main camera and a pair of 2-megapixel cameras, as well as a 5000 mAh battery with 33W charging.
Our sources tell us that this phone will, of course, be launched online, and will be available online too (at OnePlus’ Indian website and also on Amazon India), it is also likely to be pushed and promoted heavily through offline channels. The reason for this is supposed to be the pricing of the device which puts it in the range of Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series, which totally dominates the online market. It is because of this that OnePlus is believed to have decided to rely on both online and offline channels for the Nord CE 2 Lite. We do not have extensive details about the offline retail tie-ups, but our sources indicate that retail chains like Croma, Vijay Sales and Reliance Digital could be involved. Not surprisingly, the device is also expected to be available not just in Oppo’s own stores but also with a number of its retail partners. In fact, some of our sources indicate that the Nord CE series might even totally go offline by 2023 end.
Of course, all this is just speculation and leaks, but we think it would be awesome if users had the option of getting OnePlus devices, both online and from conventional retail, instead of depending on occasional online sales/flash sales.
