OnePlus confirms regional roadmap rethink amid key employee departures

OnePlus was nothing short of a phenomenon when it first launched. Despite its not-so-grand entrance, it immediately caused a stir with its invite-only system, but more importantly, the proposition of high-end specs at an unimaginably affordable price (more than half of what Samsung or LG flagships sold for at the time). And so, its supposed exit cannot go unnoticed either.

Over the last few months, OnePlus has been the subject of various rumors and speculation about its likely exit from certain markets. These have run parallel to reports that OPPO is working to reabsorb OnePlus’ sister brand, Realme, back into it, and that this has been officially confirmed. Meanwhile, a recent development appears to fuel that speculation around OnePlus actually winding down its business in key markets, including the UK and Europe.

Since last week, we’ve seen a series of exits from key OnePlus offices across Europe and the UK. What began with an assumption after a OnePlus Community Manager posted on LinkedIn about their imminent exit from the company now appears to be a broader restructuring and potential layoffs in the region. Following their announcement, we’ve encountered several dozen more OnePlus employees who have announced their departure.

The list includes the following (now-former) OnePlus employees:

• Tania Calheiros, PR Manager, UK
• Aske Ryskov Kjær, Senior PR Manager, EU
• Dani González, PR Manager, Spain

A more notable and high-profile departure is that of Serban Chiscop, Country Manager for the UK & Spain, who spent almost a decade with the company.

Nearly all the posts end on a positive note, with an “end of an era” vibe, but we suspect there’s more to the story than they tell. We reached out to these former employees, but they declined to share any details, citing legal concerns.

An employee not listed above for the sake of anonymity told me, “As you can see, almost the whole EU team left the company last week.”

Another key development signaling OnePlus’ (or OPPO’s) receding interest in the UK and Europe is the recent high-profile transfer. From their LinkedIn profiles, we know that James Paterson, senior global PR at OnePlus, recently moved to OPPO after six years at OnePlus.

This, of course, follows the highly-discussed departure of OnePlus India CEO Robin Liu, who had previously denied any troubles with the business. Shortly after, OnePlus decided to eliminate its offline presence in India, a key sales driver for the company, and focus solely on online sales. This was confirmed by the launch of the online-only OnePlus Nord 6, which did not even reach other markets (Europe and the UK), where previous Nord devices not only sold but also borrowed their name from.

We reached out to OnePlus for a comment on the matter and received the following response from a business leader in the European region on the matter:

OnePlus Europe is evaluating its regional roadmap and product strategy. All users’ after-sales support, software updates, and rights commitments are fully guaranteed.

While that does not flatly confirm layoffs or restructuring, the intricate, careful wording leaves room for doubt.

Other telltale signs of OnePlus’s exit from Europe include its regional social media accounts on X and Instagram being left stranded for months. The OnePlus Europe account X specifically hasn’t posted since July last year.

We will continue to track further developments on the matter and speak with other people.