It’s a sad fact that in the United States, cellular network carriers dominate the smartphone sales market. The vast majority of consumers make their phone purchases through their carrier, whether online or in-store. This strategy has its pros and cons, as it can make it easier for a person who isn’t all that well versed in the smartphone market, is intimidated by it, or just prefers to get some help in that decision-making process.
Ultimately, the way the model works, the stores, and the partnerships with phone manufacturers also create incentives for the salespeople. This means that by pushing a specific device or brand, in-store reps get little bonuses for doing that. As a former T-Mobile store employee from way back, I got an inside look at how this went down. So, with this largely being the way of the smartphone world in the US, it’s not really possible for a phone grand to truly gain market share without playing the carrier game. OnePlus tried it once before, but it didn’t go so well. With the new OnePlus 12, 12R, and its first foldable in the OnePlus Open all being such impressive devices, it’s time to get back in the game.
OnePlus phones are too good not to be more popular
The first OnePlus phone I owned was the OnePlus 6T in the Thunder Purple color, then the OnePlus 7 Pro with the pop-up camera. This happened to be the same point when OnePlus was making its push to be sold in T-Mobile carrier stores. While I wasn’t completely against getting my phone from my carrier, what did make me take a step back was the big price jump from the former “flagship killer” and what seemed like a regression in device quality.
OnePlus has long offered some of the best Android phones, pairing fast internal specs at a price that had been undercutting the big players by hundreds of dollars. I’m glad that OnePlus has mostly gotten back to that strategy, even if the divide between its pricing versus the more well-known brands isn’t as wide as it once was. While I can’t say for sure why the brand left carrier stores after the OnePlus 8 5G — whether it was poor sales due, high return rates, or other issues — OnePlus is now a brand that is back to pushing a stone uphill in the US market.
Much like a large part of smartphone users in Asian and European markets, over the last decade, I’ve skipped carriers to obtain my next smartphone.
Smartphone markets in other parts of the world don’t operate like the one here in the US. Many purchase their phones outside of their carrier channels, and like those buyers, I have skipped the carriers for the past decade when it comes to buying my next phone. Along with some of the reasons I mentioned earlier for why many choose to go through their cellular provider to get their phone is how seemingly easy and inexpensive it can be.
Carriers offer so many incentives to consumers in order to keep them from going the independent route. Things like 0% financing, “free” phones, trade-in deals, freebies, and more are all mechanisms to further lock you into staying with that carrier. However, despite our best efforts at outlets like Android Police, a very large number of consumers in the US don’t know that manufacturers offer similar deals as the carriers. Samsung has been offering truly wild deals on many of the best Samsung phones for years when you buy through its site directly.
But Samsung is also a major player in the US carrier market. Looking at OnePlus, and how it is taking on the market share battle, it isn’t slouching off on its incentives to purchase its new phones either. With the newest OnePlus 12, you can get it directly through the manufacturer with a guarantee of at least $100 off with a trade-in of any phone in any condition. Then, depending on the device and condition of the phone you are trading in, you could save up to $700. This combines with its free AIRVOOC wireless charger and some free Google services trials.
OK, but if you want to get the phone through another retailer, OnePlus is also partnering up with Amazon and Best Buy with incentives as well. This approach was similar to what OnePlus did with the Open, which has become one of the best foldable phones on the market. But despite the praise the industry has piled onto the folding phone and the excellent initial impression of the new OnePlus 12, sales of these devices in the US won’t be near what Samsung, Google, and, of course, Apple will see. Would being in a carrier store automatically change that? No. But it would give the OnePlus a much better chance at gaining new fans, and the US desperately needs more disruption in the smartphone market.
I’m rooting for OnePlus, but it’s going to be tough sledding
I picked up a Google Pixel 8 Pro when it launched and was sure it would become my daily driver for the foreseeable future. However, when the OnePlus Open was finally unveiled, I didn’t hesitate to trade my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 for it. Since then, that folding phone has spent more time in my pocket than any other phone in the last four to five months, convincing me that it’s the most complete foldable to date. If I wasn’t so enamored with that device, I could really see myself making the OnePlus 12 my everything phone, which isn’t something I thought I would have said a few months back.
OnePlus has been making phones for a decade now, and though it has obviously grown in that time, it is still largely unknown to the masses in the United States. Heck, most people here still think that any phone that doesn’t have an apple on the back of it is just called an Android phone and that they’re all the same. But that rant is for another time. I want, and I think the US needs, another major player to push the market here. Motorola had a resurgence in 2023 and will hopefully continue that. However, it mostly skipped carriers too. So, if any of these nascent brands want to make a splash, including OnePlus, carriers will need to be part of that plan — or some big-time luck will need to come into play.
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OnePlus 12
The OnePlus 12 builds on the OnePlus 11 in all key areas. While the design is unchanged, the phone features a bigger 6.82-inch display with an insane peak brightness of 4,500 nits. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip inside the phone is more powerful while also being 10% more power efficient. This is backed by a bigger 5,400mAh battery with 100W fast charging.
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OnePlus Open
$1500 $1700 Save $200
OnePlus’ first foldable packs an impressive specs sheet and boasts some equally remarkable features. The lightweight design, the super-bright cover and folding screens, the high-end internals, and the triple-camera setup make the OnePlus Open a great alternative to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold lineup.
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