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OnePlus is really a product of all the things I have learned throughout my professional career
I have been making consumer products for over ten years
and in that time I've become increasingly picky about consumer electronics
Recently, I've just found myself unsatisfied with the phones on the market
They're either ugly, poorly made or loaded with bloated software
I've spent a lot of time communicating with users and
found that users really do care about the design of their device
Just a couple of weeks ago, we held a fan gathering and asked
users about what bothered them most about their smartphones
Ugly design was always mentioned, and always one of the top three disappointments
Many people are unsatisfied with the look of their smartphones
My whole career, I've always been extremely picky about design
I saw an opportunity to create a better and more beautiful smartphone
That's really why I decided to start OnePlus
I led OPPO to launch Blu-ray DVD players in the US in 2005
After about 8 years, we had developed a very good reputation for the quality of our machines
We had so much success because of our philosophy and attitude towards the product
and paid attention to our users' opinions and comments
As a result, we were able to create an outstanding product which is widely considered one of the best on the market
I believe that we can achieve success with OnePlus if we continue to listen to our users and pay attention to every detail
Can you talk about the name, OnePlus? What is the origin?
Many people already associate 'one' and 'plus' with products from other companies
In one sense, 'One' stands for the status quo; what is available right now
'Plus' represents our goal of taking the status quo and improving upon it to make it better
We are dissatisfied with what is out there right now and hope we can produce something better
That's one reason for the name OnePlus
From another perspective, 'One' stands for each individual user
'Plus' represents the spirit of sharing
We believe that when our customers have our products, they'll want to share it with their friends
That's how we chose our name, OnePlus
You've started OnePlus, but there are already so many mobile phone companies both in China and all over the world
These include OPPO and Xiaomi in China and, of course, Samsung and Apple globally
How can your company compete?
The answer is in our intentions
You're right, the mobile phone market is saturated and competition is extremely intense
But we believe that we can find a place in the market as long as we make the best product
we're capable of making and treat our users with respect
The smartphone market is huge
We're confident that we can find users who don't want to settle with their current products and who are equally picky about what device they use
These are our target users
Somebody told me that to sell via e-commerce, we should pay the most resources to the CPU core numbers and specs
such as the megapixels of the camera and pixels in the screen
Many brands make decisions based on those numbers, and it makes sense
It's simple
It takes just seconds for consumers to look at those numbers and make a decision
But I don't think that's the right way to build a phone
My opinion is not popular, but I believe first in returning to user value
What do I mean by returning to user value?
It is making decisions based on what users actually care about when using their product
For example, the entire experience
The experience when they open the package, the fluidity of the software, the feel of the device in your hand
These are the things the user really cares about
And this is also what we base our decisions on when building our products
So we call it 'return to user value'
We don't stick the highest specs in our phone just for the sake of listing higher numbers on our spec page or to sell more units
We make good, solid devices and believe the product will speak for itself
That's what all my years in this business have taught me
We've talked about hardware, it's also important to talk about software
We've heard that OnePlus will work with CyanogenMod
Why did you choose CM? CyanogenMod is popular with avid Android fans, how did you come to work with them?
From the beginning, we wanted OnePlus to be a global company
We want OnePlus to be an internationally recognized and respected brand
We had the same dream for the OPPO Blu-ray division and I think we were successful in achieving that
We had the same goal for our smartphone company
It was obvious that CyanogenMod was influential in the international market, specifically among the most enthusiastic smartphone fans
The system is light and fast; it's why CyanogenMod is the most popular open source Android system
In the beginning of 2013, we developed a good relationship with the XDA Developer community and, through that, I met Steve Kondik
We realized our visions were the same
Steve is also a person who focuses on products
Throughout the course of getting to know each other, we started talking about building our own product
With our experience in hardware
and CyanogenMod's experience with software, it was natural to think about working together to make a product
We were both immediately excited about the possibility of working together on one amazing product
It's actually been a dream of his, as well, to make a smartphone
Since we shared the same dream, we decided to go for it
You said users have very high demands when it comes to the appearance of their phones
So how do you select the material? Metal, plastic, iron? How do you choose material when you're making the product?
Yes, we put a lot of thought into making these choices
For example, what size should the screen be? It's funny, not long ago, many people were adamant that the screen shouldn't exceed 5 inches
Then, we came out with a prototype which had a screen larger than 5 inches and people didn't feel it was too big
They really liked it
Even girls, who have smaller hands, really liked it
We try to think about the actual user needs
For instance, users actually prefer a bigger screen, as there is more room for content
But they also want a device that is easy to hold and operate
We take those basic requirements and try to make the screen as big as possible while making sure it stills feels good in the hand
You also have to make considerations when designing the body
For example, when choosing the battery:
we know users want as much battery capacity as possible but also want the body of the phone to be thin
This is a difficult situation, so we come up with a solution that solves the root of the problem for the user
Like, how to create a long lasting battery in a body that's slim and easy to hold
So we optimize
Another example comes from choosing the CPU
Of course we want the fastest one, but we also take into consideration how the it affects battery life
So we work with on the software to optimize the battery life
This is the philosophy for our product, to provide the best user experience
That's where we start when choosing the hardware
You said the product will be sold online, but don't you think that will be difficult?
If there are no physical units in stores, potential customers can't try out the phone in person
What is the advantage of selling online?
By selling online, we don't incur costs from traditional sales channels
That's the biggest advantage
Of course, users aren't able to touch or test out the phone when they're buying it online, but that's not the entire equation
We're relying on good word of mouth
If our early users like our product, they will tell their friends. and more effective than through traditional channels
The speed of communication online will actually be faster than offline
and more effective than through traditional channels
It will be a challenge in the beginning before many people have a chance to see our phone
The specs are not the core of our product, so it might be difficult to get users to take a chance on us
But once they use our products, we're confident they'll end up sharing this with their friends
We're turning marketing upside down by not pursuing more traditional marketing techniques
but relying more on online communication and direct interaction with our users
If users like our products, they'll spread that online
We'll have to be patient to develop our initial customer base but think eventually they'll be our best advocates