All the fallout surrounding Britain’s historic decision to leave the European Union is still being sorted out. But a brand new piece of bad news for Brits is that OnePlus’ new phone, the surprisingly great OnePlus 3, may get a price hike in the UK. Not because of any strong EU bias or anything, but because the British pound is currently garbage.
In a blogpost on OnePlus’ website, the company warns its would-be British customers that a price hike could be coming. If you’re interested in the phone, you might want to make up your mind soon:
We’re telling you this now because we don’t want you to be blindsided. If you’re thinking of buying, we recommend doing so sooner rather than later. However, if a price change comes to pass, it will not be a decision that we take lightly. We have only had to increase prices once before, when the Euro hit a nine-year low against the dollar at the beginning of 2015, and we did so reluctantly. Currency fluctuations are not your fault, nor our fault; but if we sell at a loss, the simple fact is that there won’t be a OnePlus in the future.
Arguably OnePlus’ biggest smartphone innovation (other than a 6GB RAM smartphone) is price. When the OnePlus One launched, we couldn’t believe how a previously unknown Chinese startup was able to pack in so much phone at such a cheap price. Because OnePlus is working with thinner profit margins compared to other smartphone juggernauts, currency volatility can have a devastating impact on its profit margins.
But OnePlus isn’t the only startup feeling the pinch of Brexit’s consequences, and even companies like Samsung are moving out of London. OnePlus’ decision could be the beginning of a trend. A report by The Wall Street Journal on Monday says that customers flooded the Apple store in southwest London in fear of impending price hikes as the pound continues at 31-year low.
As for OnePlus, the company doesn’t mention exactly how much the price hike could possibly be. But considering it took the time to put up a warning blogpost, it could be significant.
[OnePlus]