OnePlus Says Unlike Xiaomi, It Will Never Show Ads on its Mobile

The company has mostly relied on making money by selling phones, and gradually increasing its prices every year.

OnePlus users have never faced issues with ads on their devices.

(Photo: The Quint)

Xiaomi sells a lot of phones in the Indian market, most of this can be attributed to its value for money factor. OnePlus is another brand that does well in the value-for-money aspect, but in a different segment.

Having said that, many people have complained that Xiaomi’s devices are infested with ads and that has started to become a concern for consumers. The company has openly said that serving ads is a part of its business strategy, as confirmed by Muralikrishnan B, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Xiaomi India, quoted in this Livemint article who says, “ads are a core element of its business model.”

So, why doesn’t OnePlus feel the need to serve ads to its mobile users or will it continue to avoid doing that?

Speaking in an interview recently (first spotted by Gizmo China), Pete Lau, CEO, OnePlus reaffirmed that OnePlus phone users will never have to worry about ads showing up on their devices. He was quoted saying, “ If an addition doesn’t add anything to the user experience, then the company won’t add it to the device.”

But how does OnePlus manage to avoid a business model that has worked well for a brand like Xiaomi? To which he said, “I have no ads, but I can make money by selling my devices a little more expensive.”

And that’s probably the reason why OnePlus has been gradually increasing prices of the phone models every year since the launch of its OnePlus One smartphone more than five years back in India.

Compared to the first generation model (which sold at Rs 18,999), the latest series of OnePlus 7 models are selling with prices starting from Rs 37,999.

While he did mention that ads are a good source of making additional revenue for phone makers, he believes that if a product is well made, people will buy it (and help the company make its money organically.)

This clearly suggests that OnePlus will look at other avenues to grow its brand rather than make affordable devices and dish out ads to its users on their screens like Xiaomi is doing. Luckily for both Xiaomi and OnePlus, the Indian market has been a happy hunting ground with both their business models doing quite well.