OnePlus is about to launch a phone that looks so much like the iPhone 7 Plus that it’s already received plenty of criticism, prompting OnePlus execs and others to defend the design. But that doesn’t mean the phone will not be a smash hit at launch. The Chinese smartphone maker is following the same recipe that made it famous: the OnePlus 5 will have top specs and an affordable price tag. But does that mean it’ll be sold out at launch?
Buying a OnePlus handset at launch was quite an issue in previous years, as the company employed special schemes to deal with the limited stock. However, things may change this year, a comment posted on Weibo suggests.
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau posted a message on Weibo earlier this week, shared by Phone Arena, that said the OnePlus 5 will be easy to buy. It’s also worth noting that the message was deleted since being first posted as a reply to a customer who said the phone will be hard to find at launch. It’s unclear what prompted the removal of that reply.
Lau didn’t elaborate on how one should go about buying the OnePlus 5. But Phone Arena notes that JD.com already received 75,000 registrations for the first OnePlus 5 flash sale before the phone’s official launch.
Well-known leaker Evan Blass tweeted last week that the OnePlus 5 will be widely available in India via Amazon, thanks to an exclusive partnership between the two companies. Maybe that’s what Lau meant:
"OnePlus 5 powered by 2.35GHz octa-core Snapdragon 835 processor and 8GB of RAM will release on 22 June 2017 as an exclusive at Amazon.in."
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) June 7, 2017
Lau isn’t the only top OnePlus exec talking about the phone on social media. Carl Pai took to Twitter to defend the design of the OnePlus 5.
“Does anyone still remember the commotion regarding the OnePlus 3 design before it came out? It stopped as soon as people got the device,” he said. “History will repeat itself once people see a real live OnePlus 5.”
History will repeat itself once people see a real live OnePlus 5.
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) June 14, 2017
He is certainly right in one regard. Once people see a real life OnePlus 5, they’ll probably inquire whether that’s a new iPhone model. Which can be a great compliment for a smartphone maker. But also an insult.
OnePlus’s iPhone 7 will be unveiled on June 20th and should hit stores soon after that.
