OnePlus' Carl Pei questions Flipkart for advertising OnePlus 3 as part of Big Shopping Days

Update: OnePlus India has responded to our email with an official statement. “OnePlus is focused on creating premium flagship smartphones. We have an exclusive partnership with Amazon in India. We advice customers to purchase OnePlus products only through official channels as we cannot guarantee the authenticity of the products sold elsewhere.” Flipkart is gearing up for its ‘ Big Shopping Days’ contest which will allow people win discounts, holiday trips for couples and Flipkart exclusive products during the contest. Considering that the OnePlus 3 is only available on Amazon, OnePlus Co-founder, Carl Pei tweeted asking Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal about the matter. [caption id=“attachment_353345” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image Credit: Flipkart[/caption] Carl pointed out that OnePlus devices are exclusive with Amazon India and there was no substance to the advertisement running on Flipkart homepage.

One thing to note is that Flipkart has even added a product page for the OnePlus 3 along with the price tag as ‘Coming Soon,’ leading people to believe that the smartphone will be available on the website. The OnePlus 3 sale banner on Flipkart homepage points out that the smartphone will be available for under Rs 20,000 with Rs 1_,999 which is strange considering that the cost of a new OnePlus 3 is Rs 27,999. The banner also adds that the smartphone will be available in limited stock. [caption id=“attachment_353346” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image Credit: Flipkart[/caption] OnePlus has exclusively launched OnePlus devices on Amazon since the very first, OnePlus One. The company launched its latest flagship, OnePlus 3T last month and the smartphone went on sale on 14th December 2016. The flagship is currently the number 1 best selling device in Electronics category on Amazon along with OnePlus 3 still in stock on Amazon. We have reached out to OnePlus for a comment on the same and awaiting their response. In the meantime, you can check out the review for OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3 in case you want to buy the smartphone. OnePlus captured the public imagination with the launch of OnePlus One, an affordable smartphone with the specification of a premium smartphone. The inclusion of Cyanogen OS changed the equation for users who want to mod, root or use custom ROM without voiding their warranty. The next smartphone by the company, OnePlus 2 was a failure on many levels which made us think that the company was one hit wonder. But OnePlus changed the game around with OnePlus 3 by returning back to its roots. At Rs 27,999, the OnePlus 3 makes for a good buying decision, especially now with that annoying invite-only system lifted buying it will become much more convenient. OnePlus 3 offers a good overall design and the internal specifications ensure that you get the best performance that is expected of a flagship. The company upgraded the OnePlus 3 just after six months to take on the Android perfection by Google, Google Pixel and Pixel XL. However, the pricing of Pixel and Pixel XL works against the otherwise wonderful devices after Google axed the much loved Nexus devices. This would hurt the company in the long run as the consumers are asking for an affordable yet no compromise smartphone experience. Google’s loss should be OnePlus’ gain as it is currently the only worthy offering that gives buyers the latest Snapdragon 821 chipset, loads of RAM, 128GB internal storage great bloat-free software and an impressive camera for just Rs 34,999. This is not the first time OnePlus has run into trouble with an Indian company. Previously, the company had to engage with Micromax over the exclusivity of CyanogenOS during OnePlus One launch.