Over the years, OnePlus has followed a similar path as Apple to offer premium smartphone experience to its users at an expensive price tag. While the brand still offers premium experience with its OnePlus flagship smartphone series (latest one being the OnePlus 9 series), it has now also branched to other directions, which is great. Be it for its smartphones or smartTVs, OnePlus now caters to different set of consumers and aims to reach the mass with the changing product strategy. The smartphone market and consumers’ mindset are changing and with that, so is OnePlus.
During an interview with BGR India, Navnit Nakra, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, OnePlus India said highlighting the current smartphone market scenario, “studies have shown that in India roughly only 5-10% of the population can afford smartphones costing over Rs 30,000.” Possibly, this change in the smartphone market behaviour resulted in the birth of the OnePlus Nord series in 2020.
Last year, with the introduction of the OnePlus Nord series, the company changed its strategy and product lineup, especially for markets like India. The idea behind the conception of Nord series is to offer top-notch features at a relatively cheaper price point. The original OnePlus Nord offers a great design, powerful performance, outstanding camera performance and much more at an affordable price tag. The same strategy will be followed for the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE 5G as well.
Image: OnePlus
“Through the OnePlus Nord (Nord CE 5G), we are looking to make the OnePlus experience more accessible than ever; for more and more people to have access to these products without compromising on its core values,” Nakra said. The original OnePlus Nord received an overwhelming response in India and the same is expected from the upcoming Nord as well.
The upcoming OnePlus Nord CE 5G will offer all the core features of the original Nord and more at a much “affordable” price point. “With the Nord CE 5G, we have distilled the original Nord down to its core elements and have added extra features to create a great everyday phone at an even more affordable price,” Nakra revealed while talking about the upcoming smartphone’s placement in the market. This possibly hints that the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE 5G smartphone, set to launch in India on June 10, will be much more affordable when compared to the original OnePlus Nord. The official pricing of the upcoming OnePlus Nord is yet to be confirmed though.
While designing the OnePlus Nord CE 5G smartphone, the key criteria that the company had in mind was to “provide an enhanced user experience to consumers with a powerful processor, superior display, a robust camera setup, and the premium OnePlus experience”, Nakra said.
The smartphone manufacturer has already confirmed that the upcoming Nord will be one of the slimmest smartphones and will offer a sleek and stylish design. Camera has always been one of the key focus areas for OnePlus phones and the same will be followed for the Nord CE 5G as well. The smartphone has been confirmed to pack 64-megapixel triple rear camera system with features similar to the flagship smartphones.
OnePlus is currently working towards “bringing the best of cutting-edge technology and meaningful experiences for the community with much to look forward to in the coming year.” When asked if the company plans to release more affordable 5G phones this year, Nakra didn’t confirm or deny it. Considering the overwhelming response of the original Nord and the excitement around the upcoming Nord CE 5G, we expect to see more such premium yet affordable products from the brand in the months to come.
