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OnePlus has suffered a huge sales blow in its most important market
- A retail association in southern India has reportedly stated that it will no longer sell OnePlus products in its stores.
- That means over 4,300 stores across more than 20 chains won’t sell OnePlus wares from May 1.
- The association cited low profit margins and delays in processing warranty/service claims.
OnePlus has long been one of the most popular brands in India, owing to its aggressive pricing for phones and other products. Now, it looks like the company has suffered a major blow as a retail association has stated that OnePlus products will no longer be sold offline in large parts of India.
The South Indian Organized Retailers Association (ORA) sent a letter to OnePlus India, confirming that its retail chain members would discontinue sales of OnePlus products from May 1, Money Control reported.
The ORA represents over 4,300 stores across more than 20 retail chains in southern India, which means this is a significant blow to offline OnePlus sales in the market.
Why are offline retailers ditching OnePlus?
The association reportedly claimed in its letter that it was dropping OnePlus due to “consistently low profit margins.” This wasn’t the only issue, as the group reportedly cited frequent delays in processing warranty and service claims too. The group also took umbrage with OnePlus requiring retail partners to bundle other goods or services with its products.
“Throughout the past year, we have encountered significant obstacles associated with selling OnePlus products, which remain unresolved. As esteemed partners, we had hoped for a more fruitful collaboration with OnePlus,” the group explained. “Regrettably, the ongoing issues have left us with no alternative but to discontinue the sale of your products in our stores.”
ORA represents retail chains in southern India, though, rather than the entire region. But the wider All India Mobile Retailer Association (AIMRA) has also reportedly criticized OnePlus for its business practices. We’ve emailed AIMRA to find out whether its retail members will stop selling OnePlus products too, as that could have nationwide repercussions.
We’ve also contacted OnePlus representatives for a statement on the matter and will update the article accordingly. Nevertheless, offline sales are still big business in India, despite the growing popularity of online platforms like Amazon India and Flipkart. So even southern Indian chains dropping OnePlus would be a big dent to the brand’s business in a country that it called its “most important market” in 2022.