Recently Oneplus launched their two phones, one is the flagship killer, which is Oneplus 7 Pro, another one is Oneplus 7, which is a standard version but compelling and gives better value as compared to Oneplus 7 Pro. Overall both phones are great. Oneplus 7 Pro is an expensive option, which they say is a flagship killer and the product has futuristic features such as 90HZ display, a different front and back camera mechanism, etc. The phone costs around INR 50k (starting price), now the question comes why suddenly Oneplus changed their customer segment or market segment.
Oneplus have been selling phones ranging between INR 33-39k (few limited edition phones came with additional price ~ INR 45k). Oneplus was doing well in the segment and gained a lot of popularity, that shows in their sales portfolio as well, and in 2018 they became no. 1 smartphone selling brand in India. Then why they suddenly changed their price segment and moved to a different segment, which is INR 50k price range, the answer is competition. As per Porter’s 5 forces model, the center is “Competitive Rivalry”, which actually pushed Oneplus to take this step. The competitors are Asus Zenphone 6z, Mi BlackShark 2, Redmi K20 Pro, Realme X, Oppo Reno, Nubia Redmagic 3, Honor 20, Honor v20, etc. and they are within INR 40k price bracket.
As per Porter’s model – “Competitive Rivalry”, for customers, switching cost is low (moving from one product to another), loyalty is low (in this segment, customers can pick one brand over another), and there are a lot of competition in the segment as already mentioned. Oneplus quickly reacted to the situation, they kept one place within INR 40k price segment, however, picked a place where options are not existing. Currently, a potential competitor is Samsung Galaxy S10e which is almost sharing the same price range (iPhone XR is an option but during sales, it shares the same bracket else the phone is on the higher side).
If you compare the specs of Oneplus 7 and 7 Pro, you will not find a lot of differences except better display, slightly better camera setup and fast charing. Oneplus with these differences changed the segment and now competing with fewer competitors and also managing their presence in INR 33k-38k price range.
What do you think, is Oneplus actually trying to move away from the budget segment and becoming a premium brand like Apple and Samsung? also, do not forget Oneplus already stopped offering their mid-range Oneplus 7 in US market :). Please share your thoughts in the comment section. Thanks for reading the article, Cheers 🙂