OnePlus' aggressively priced phone, the OnePlus One, has been an elusive device for a number of smartphone enthusiasts since it can only be acquired through a cumbersome invite system. However, the Chinese startup company is setting up a promotional offer in which consumers will finally be able to purchase a unit without having to go through the invite obstacle.
According to the company, the promotional offer for acquiring its "flagship killer" device will happen on Jan. 20 and will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST or 19:00 to 21:00 GMT. The models that will be up for grabs are the 16 GB Silk White and the 64 GB Sandstone Black models. OnePlus won't be deviating from the original retail price of its offerings because the 16 GB version is still at $299 while the 64 GB one is at $349.
The aforementioned price tags is one of the reasons why companies like OnePlus and Xiaomi are able to gain considerable amounts of traction in such a short period of time, particularly against the likes of Samsung and Apple. While Xiaomi is clearly above OnePlus in terms of smartphone market share, it is also because Xiaomi's distribution reach is much wider compared to OnePlus'. The "flagship killer" maker ran into production problems as it only expected to sell a unit count of 50,000 units, whereas demand spiked to the point where the company's units sales count reached nearly one million from April to December last year.
According to Carl Pei, the company is going to be releasing two handsets this year, where one will be the successor of the OnePlus One, the OnePlus Two, while the other device will be targeted toward a different audience and so far, does not carry a model name. The OnePlus Two is expected to be released during the third quarter of 2015.
