The OnePlus One has certainly had an interesting introduction to the world. First it was the social marketing of OnePlus taking a dig at other manufacturers, then the slow, drip feeding of the specs of the device, resulting in a backlash over the Snapdragon 800 that was originally planned for it (later changed to an 801 without any announcement), the announcement of only 16 countries that the phone will originally be released in (none of them being the best country in the world, Australia), the plan to offer phones via invitation only, the apparent misrepresentation of the size of the device, and the lack of a release date, the Oppo investment/ownership controversy. Phew that’s a lot! But you know what? A LOT of punters out there still want a OnePlus One.
The good news for those hoping to get their hands on one is that today via their forums they have announced upcoming availability. It seems that for the first month only the 16GB Silk White version will be available and even then only in limited numbers. It seems that OnePlus underestimated the demand for this phone. Not sure how they didn’t realise they could have a hit on their hands. A phone with flagship and better specs, running a specially developer CyanogenMod rom, at a price of less than half other flagships? Sounds like a winner to me. They said:
…we realized that far more people wanted the One than what we originally anticipated. Over the past few days, we have been frantically adjusting our production schedule to make sure that as many people possible can buy the One, as soon as possible.
They also have realised that a lot more people want the 64GB than do the 16GB and will adjust their production accordingly. Stock of the 64GB Sandstone Black model will arrive in early June, and by the end of June anyone who wants a 64GB should be able to purchase one after finding an invite somewhere. Yes, it seems they are sticking with the invite system. There is still no update as to how the invite system will work but from their statement it seems that anyone who wants an invite will have no trouble obtaining one by the end of June.
The production schedule is as follows:
- Ready now – 100 for phone smashers
- Mid to late May – Larger batch 16GB Silk White for the first batch of invites
- Early June – Larger batch 64GB Sandstone Black
- Later in June – Increased general availability, people who want it should be able to get an invite without much trouble in June
In other good news OnePlus have also posted on their forums that anyone who wants a OnePlus One will be able to get one, as long as they get it sent to one of the 16 release countries.
When I said we will limit the invites, I meant that we will deliver only to one of the 16 countries, you can buy from anywhere in the world as long as the shipping address is in one of those countries.
Good news for us Aussies as it means their will be no impediment for us purchasing a OnePlus One, getting it shipped to a mail forwarder in the states such as Comgateway or Shipitto and from there to us here into our pockets.
Who here is still interested in the OnePlus One? Anyone at all interested in the 16GB version? Are you willing to wait until the end of June?
