2020 was an important year for the Chinese brand OnePlus. The company continued to shine with its high-end smartphones and launched the OnePlus Nord, a new range of affordable mobile phones that want to buy a OnePlus smartphone without breaking the bank.
OnePlus also continued to diversify into connected objects with the introduction of its wireless headphones. And this year the brand enters the connected watch and bracelet market.
After launching OnePlus North, Carl Pei decided to leave OnePlus
In 2020, however, OnePlus also parted with its co-founder Carl Pei, who is considered one of the company’s great visionaries. However, Pei will not remain inactive as he intends to start a new project.
“It was like a birthday present for me. I wanted to discover something new. I have a need for creativity within myself, but I still love technology and wanted to try new ideas. So I decided to make my birthday my last day (at OnePlus). “he had declared in December.
A new project in preparation
And while Carl Pei says he has no issues with OnePlus, he admits that today’s OnePlus is very different from the company he co-founded a few years ago simply because it has grown. “I have nothing against the brand, I learned a lot, I grew up there in a way” he explained. “I want to try something new. “”
Little is known about Carl Pei’s new project at the moment. However, as we explained in a previous article, this project has something to do with audio. And to fund this new project, Pei has already raised $ 7 million. Investors include former Apple Vice President Tony Fadell, Steve Huffman, co-founder of Reddit, young Casey Neistat, and Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin.
Launch of the new brand in a week
But the good news is that Carl Pei will be saying more about his new project in a week. In a tweet posted this week, the co-founder of OnePlus announced that the new brand would be unveiled on January 27th. And to get people talking about this project, Pei also started an online game that … can be won MacBook Air with M1 chip.
Otherwise, as reported on the Android Authority website, the OnePlus co-founder has also posted several job vacancies that may provide clues about the project. For example, one of these offers concerns a designer position for an Android application. The offices are based in London and India.
Wireless headphones and headsets?
Could OnePlus co-founder’s new brand bring new wireless headsets or headphones to market? It’s difficult to predict right now.
In any case, Carl Pei is starting this new project at a time when certain types of audio products are a hit. As mentioned in a previous article, wireless headphone shipments will see good growth in 2020.
And in this area, Apple is still number one thanks to its AirPods. However, more and more brands are entering this market and some of them are offering significantly cheaper products.
