OnePlus has quickly diversified its portfolio over the past couple of years, and the newest product to flaunt its branding might be a OnePlus Pad tablet. Although now officially a sub-brand of Oppo, OnePlus started with ‘flagship killer' smartphones before then marching into the territory of accessories such as chargers and bags, followed by smart TVs, audio products, and eventually even fitness wearables.
By sharing resources with Oppo by merging the software as well as hardware teams, OnePlus is apparently looking to tap into the supply chain of its parent company and diversify its product portfolio even further. However, the increasing Oppo influence also has some worried about the company’s approach going forward, especially its community-first attitude towards developing new products and improving upon existing ones.
First spotted by MySmartPrice, an official EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) listing suggests that a OnePlus Pad tablet is now in development. So far, the rumor mill has largely been absent of chatter regarding an upcoming OnePlus-branded tablet. It is plausible that the company has only trademarked the name, and the actual product might still be some time away from a commercial debut. It also remains to be seen whether OnePlus would be planning to go after heavyweights in the industry, such as Samsung with its Galaxy Tab S7 or Apple with its iPad Pro, or if the plan is to try and capture the mid-range tablet market.
While OnePlus’ tablet ambitions appear to be a natural diversification of the company’s product range, it will be interesting to see how well it fares. By the end of the first half of 2021, Android was the leading OS for tablets worldwide with a market share of approximately 60-percent, per Statista data. Following a peak in 2017, the Android tablet market has been on a steady decline and only recovered owing to a surge in demand during the pandemic. If the growth trajectory continues, OnePlus has a solid opportunity here to capitalize on the demand and deliver a tablet that stays true to its value-for-money mantra. Save for Samsung and Huawei, there are hardly any smartphone brands that currently make compelling Android tablets to rival the iPad family, and this is where OnePlus might be able to fill the gap.
However, competing with the likes of Apple and Samsung won’t be an easy task. Apple, with a market share of around 35-percent, is the biggest challenge as it sells well-received tablets across all key price brackets, thanks to the vanilla iPad, mini, Air, and Pro models. Samsung has also diversified its portfolio with two premium tablets, Fan Edition as well as budget-centric Lite models. Moreover, the likes of Amazon and Lenovo are fairly popular in the low-end segment. If the OnePlus Pad aims to leave a mark, it has to stand out by bringing something unique to the table, or simply by undercutting the competition by a noticeable margin.
Another challenge in the OnePlus Pad’s path is restoring brand reputation following the not-so-stellar debut of OnePlus’ first smartwatch. The OnePlus Watch was criticized for multiple reasons, including an underwhelming set of features, lack of third-party app support, tracking issues, and even its bulky design. Overall, the OnePlus Watch proved to be a disappointment and especially when taking into consideration the previous anticipation. Prior to that, the OnePlus Band also failed to make any noise within the industry. The OnePlus Pad will have a lot riding on its shoulders and can’t afford to go down as another overhyped product for the company.
Source: MySmartPrice, EUIPO, Statista
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