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****IT'S HERE**** OnePlus Has Unleashed the Beast

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Gmash said:
^
This. No marketing in America, either. No way this thing will ever turn a profit.
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They are relying on news outlets and social media to get their message out for the first round, and it appears by the feedback that they are nailing their (limited) initial target customers. And they are probably planning an initial loss. Few startups make money in their first year(s).
 
Gmash said:
^
This. No marketing in America, either. No way this thing will ever turn a profit.
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I have a different take on it.

First off America is a very fertile environment for word of mouth chatter about new smartphones, especially in areas like Silicon Valley and other states with tech businesses. Then there's the blogosphere with it's social buzz via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and so many others.

Finally, while there's been an absence of conventional marketing so far that doesn't mean they won't have some after the launch. As far as profit, I'm sure they've taken that into consideration as well.

At the end of the day we'll see how it plays out, I'm thinking they're well positioned.
 
Well, I hope they do well, more competition is always better, and it's always fun to see an underdog take the big guys down a notch, but I think it will be tough. The profit margins have to be small with the specs vs price they have announced, and the customer base is seemingly limited. I don't know what their investor situation is as far as being able to operate at a loss for any significant length of time. Regardless, the phone is too big for my taste, so it's not for me, but best of luck to them.
 
Speaking of clever marketing with no marketing budget, the OnePlus invite system could result in a lot of word-of-mouth referrals, which is far more valuable that showing an ad to thousands of viewers who just got up to go use the restroom and don't care anyway.
 
You have to be invited, so it's like they're putting obstacles in the way of people who wish to buy it? I've certainly never heard of such a scheme like this being used to sell a smartphone. IMO it'll either make or break them, that's for sure.
 
I could be wrong, but I think that's the system for the first 100 available on the 23rd, but after stock builds you'll be able to buy it from their website normally.

OnePlus One said:
There will be a way to get one of the first 100 OnePlus One… http://bit.ly/OnePlusOneT1
5b2ddb85-a547-4e56-8c23-9cff490a64be
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first 100? they sure have a very very low expectation.

for me.. there are too many odd marketing things going on.
 
dan330 said:
first 100? they sure have a very very low expectation.

for me.. there are too many odd marketing things going on.
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It's starting to sound like OnePlus are running a Willy Wonka style golden tickets type thing. 100 is not a lot, if this phone is for the US, Canada, EU, HK and Taiwan. No doubt they're trying to build as much hype as possible, go viral, get the tech geeks talking about it. Wasn't the ill-fated Fusion Garage JooJoo tablet marketed in a similar way?
 
funkylogik said:
Nah people on g+ are saying the 1st 100 thing is a giveaway competition.
Maybe the invites will be easy to get
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I don't even understand why one even has wait for an invite just to buy a smartphone. They're trying to keep it exclusive and prestigious, and all part of trying to garner publicity as well?

I'm not particularly interested in launch date as it's apparently not going to be available here anyway. But will I be able to buy one in June in the UK, without having an invite or by winning a lottery or golden ticket or whatever.
 
Members of the OnePlus forum have been expressing the same frustrations:
Am I the only one who feels betrayed? By a company that encourages we the consumers to NEVER SETTLE for an over-marketed, bloated, closed-system phone while at the same time creating a closed-network and over-marketed entitlement system to buy their new phone? What happened to OPENNESS of the One+ One design philosophy? To creating a company that responds DIRECTLY to consumer needs? Now you want me to beg someone outside the company just to get access to your product? What happens when word gets out that people are selling invites and that all One+ has done is artificially inflate what was supposed to be the most affordable super-phone of the year?

I've bought a phone every six months for the last five years. I've dealt with online orders. I've dealt with pre-orders. I've even dealt with lines. It may have been a pain but at least I knew who I was dealing with and when I would get my phone. Now you want me to deal with someone that I hope is enough of a "friend" to invite me to buy a phone from a company that didn't even want to deal with me in the first place? I will NEVER SETTLE for that.
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To this, Carl Pei, who handles international relations simply replied,
 
Further explanation by Carl Pei in the same thread linked above:
There are some very real problems with hardware that the invite system solves; capital tied into inventory, and production yield rate ramp up period. Even the industry giants can not escape this.

Our choices were:
  • Wait months after the announcement before we start selling with more inventory ready, like some others do.
  • Delay the announcement by months to make sure there's ample of stock available. We can't do this, because of competition.
  • Let some experience it before others through the invite system.
Do you have a better solution?
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One comment from the OnePlus forum made me chuckle.

"I work for Tesla, and we do something very similar. It takes 2-3 months to custom build one of our cars,"

Hand making custom cars in America is most definitely NOT like mass producing smartphones in Shenzhen. Once they're tooled and setup, an outfit like Foxconn will make you as few or as many phones as you like, with not much notice. I'm thinking once the OnePlus One is launched and word gets around, there will be a whole load of phones coming out with similar specs within a few weeks or so. OnePlus will have to move quick.
 
Sounds like they only had enough capital to get so many made, now they are stalling for time so the first wave of paying customers can finance the next round. Timing is crucial. Tech will stand still for no man.
 
The Indian company Notion Ink's Adam introduction has proven this strategy won't work. By the time the capital is flowing into reinvestment and stock it is surpassed by the next devices with improved specs.
 
I'm almost certain it's going to be released in China on the same date. oneplus.cn
has a countdown clock, as well as an active forum. They also have a 24hour toll-free phone number for contacting them, so might not have to be messing around with invites or golden tickets in order to get one here.
 
to me..
feels like a desperate move to get word out..
because they aint got the budget to do it the "right" way.
this company does not have the resources to handle an international success.
even google had a lot of problems getting devices out ..for the first Nexus One

I sure hope the device lives up to everyone's expectations.
 
I will be selling an S4 and Nexus 5 to buy it if I can get over its size, which is why I didn't get the Note 3 last year, but yeah, other than that, this thing is ticking all the right boxes for me! I don't mind living in the edge, but not the bleeding edge--I don't want one from the first batch. It will be a mid-late summer purchase :D

So what SwapStyle cover do I want... I'm thinking either bamboo or denim :)
 
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