OnePlus is a Chinese manufacturer that has become something of an underdog making waves in the smartphone space, but, unbeknownst to most smartphone fans of the company, OnePlus also had a smartwatch in the works at one point in time. This is something that definitely never went public, though the WSJ delivered the inside scoop.
The OnePlus OneWatch, as the smartwatch's name, had a prototype design -- but the company scrapped it after creating it. "We had completed the design but we still decided to scrap it. We have to be focused. It was a matter of survival of the fittest, and adding a possibly weak 'me too' product into the otherwise strong OnePlus lineup would expose the company to a cruel market," Co-founder Pete Lau said in a recent Wall Street Journal interview. The design photos are below, courtesy of tech site Boy Grade Report, or BGR India.
OnePlus's decision to forgo developing the smartwatch even further, announcing it, and selling it had everything to do with the company's desire to streamline its products and sell only those that could ensure some significant measure of success. Decisions like this are indicative of a company that doesn't have too much money to throw around and would rather ensure a profit than to risk money that could bring zero return.
Some say that OnePlus didn't release the OneWatch because it wasn't compatible with Google's Android Wear, and perhaps ran OnePlus's OxygenOS instead (or something close to it), but Android Wear hasn't been much of a booming business when compared with, say, Samsung's own Tizen OS (so this doesn't seem to be the reason). It appears as though OnePlus's claim about why it didn't release the OneWatch.
While OnePlus has yet to release a smartwatch, that doesn't mean the company has given up on the idea. Some ideas are developed too soon, and timing is the key to effective launches on the market. So, if the OnePlus 3, OnePlus's upcoming smartphone that'll be announced on June 14th, is a success, then perhaps OnePlus may consider launching a smartwatch before year's end. The company's new invite-free ordering for the OnePlus 3 gives us hope that, when it does launch a smartwatch, you won't have to buy an invitation or secure one from a friend to purchase it.
Would you like to see a OnePlus smartwatch come to market? If so, why? If not, why not?
