Working closely with Oppo to feature integrated OS in 2022: OnePlus

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Chinese handset brands OnePlus and Oppo are working together to bring an integrated operating system experience, and the unified experience will be launched with the next flagship series in 2022, OnePlus founder Pete Lau said.

Earlier this year, the two companies had announced merging their product and R&D teams. Both brands have also integrated their research and development capabilities in India.

Lau - who is the Chief Product Officer of both the brands - said with the merging of teams, the companies have looked at creating the best possible software experience for users.

"With this approach, we have been working on the creation of an integrated operating system (OS) combining the very best strengths of Oxygen OS (OnePlus'OS) as well as Color OS (Oppo), particularly focussing on the fast, smooth, and clean experience that everyone has come to know with Oxygen OS and combining that with the very stable, quality aspects and features of Color OS - which allows us to create a unified operating system experience," he added.

Terming the integration with Oppo as a starting point of 'OnePlus 2.0', Lau said the unified OS experience will first launch on the 2022 flagship and then further across other devices.

Asked about the India R&D teams, Lau said "directionally, things are moving to having teams focus towards the integrated OS".

"...it's important to note that across software, there are different teams, focusing on different aspects, including, for example, chipset and the chipset integration...there are other software teams that are focused on the overall screen experiences, animation, things related to the screen...directionally, everyone is moving towards the focus on this integrated OS," he added.

Asked if there would be redundancies on account of the merger, Lau said the focus has been on "bringing together the OnePlus and Oppo teams to be able to bring the strengths of both sides into the merged entity, and to have all the teams, delivering their efforts in our work going forward, that's where we stand".

He, however, didn't comment on the impact on India's operations.

Lau also noted that it will not launch its OnePlus T series smartphones this year.

"With a more comprehensive product range and more localised products, we are now better able to meet the specific needs of users in different markets. With this new direction, we will not be releasing a global T version of the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro in 2021. We believe that these devices are among the best in the industry and will remain competitive throughout the year," he said.

In a blogpost, Lau said OnePlus has introduced some new product series at the regional level beginning last year as part of its product portfolio strategy.

"Based on the growth and success we achieved last year, we will continue offering users a high-quality experience at multiple price points, together with even more competitive pricing...going forward, our more affordable product ranges will become more localised, while continuing to offer our premium and ultra-premium flagship smartphones globally," he added.