It has been a very strange few days for OnePlus followers in India. First, it had been widely rumoured and reported that the brand would be launching the OnePlus 9 RT in the Indian market in the middle of December. However, that did not happen.
What’s more, the brand released an OxygenOS 12 update for the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro that ended up being so buggy that it had to be withdrawn. Even as this is being written, OnePlus has come out with a new Oxygen OS update which is being rolled out to the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. And while all this has been happening, OnePlus founder Pete Lau has just confirmed that the OnePlus 10 Pro will be launched in January 2022, much earlier than was expected.
All of which has placed a big question mark over the OnePlus 9 RT. Our sources tell us that it is doubtful that the phone will be launched in India this year. Its delay is supposed to be software issues in OxygenOS 12, similar to the ones that created problems for the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro through the initial OTA update. However, some software developers claim that these issues stem from attempts to integrate OxygenOS more deeply with Color OS, Oppo’s Android UI skin.
Some had believed that the OnePlus 9 RT would be launched in India in early January after its software issues had been resolved. However, the announcement of the launch of the OnePlus 10 Pro in early January complicates the issue.
OnePlus has almost always given India pride of place in its launches and called the Indian market a key one for it. So it would seem very odd for the brand to be launching the OnePlus 9 RT in India, even as the OnePlus 10 Pro was launched in other markets (perhaps even in India). Imagine Apple launching the iPhone 12 in India after having launched the iPhone 13 globally? It would be very awkward.
Our sources say that there could be two ways out of this. OnePlus could either cancel the OnePlus 9 RT launch altogether in India, making it the first OnePlus flagship to not come to the Indian market. Or it could rebrand the OnePlus 9 RT as the OnePlus 10R and launch it alongside the OnePlus 10 series in India, making it an India-only exclusive.
It is to be stressed that these are totally unconfirmed reports and do not come from official sources, but then the OnePlus world seems full of surprises this December.