Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus has been hailed as 2014’s success story. Since launching its first device, the OnePlus One, in April, more than 500,000 units have been sold, co-founder Carl Pei told Forbes. These sales were achieved with an advertising budget of just $300!
OnePlus aims to break 1 million sales by the end of the year. It is now relying on its “critical mass” of users to spread the word about its phones by word-of-mouth; its original ‘budget’ was spent entirely on different types of Facebook advertising.
The OnePlus One features a 5.5″ display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, using LTPS transistors and an IPS panel. Android 4.4 is powered by a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 SoC. 16GB and 64GB sizes are available, with the largest costing just $350. Pei said that the company can afford to do this because it makes a tiny profit on each phone – “a single-figure dollar amount”. While the company hopes to change that strategy in the future, it is currently key to driving interest.
