OnePlus is back
Three years after its first, less than stellar, attempt at a smartwatch OnePlus has come to MWC 2024 with a new watch. This time, the watch is based on Google’s Wear OS which means it will have a strong foundation of apps and, more importantly, will be appealing to consumers who are already using Wear OS devices as a possible switch. The watch has a claimed 100 hours of battery life, which is less than the original OnePlus device, but still far more than many of the Wear OS alternatives. More importantly, the company seems to have embraced a philosophical switch in strategy from “flagship killer” – which was always a bold and doomed approach – to one of building the OnePlus ecosystem more effectively. In other words, like with Apple’s approach, the new OnePlus watch could help drive sales of the company’s phones too.
The Circana Take:
- The WearOS marketplace is a competitive space with quite a few strong watch options – led by Samsung. With OnePlus having very little phone presence in the US market, and no significant carrier foothold, it will be an uphill battle for OnePlus to carve out a strong market presence with the new watch
- Having said that, it’s a good-looking watch and if the company can get a strong retail presence in the likes of BestBuy, then the company should see some success with the watch that could indeed help drive sales of its smartphone too.
- The key will be strong bundled offerings for the watch and phone.