Cars
formerly thegameofsoles
- Apr 27, 2014
- 4,512
- 1,430
We messed up the launch of the OnePlus 2.
Well, we messed up the launch of the OnePlus One as well. Although inventory levels ramped up eventually, months after the announcement, it was still extremely difficult to buy the device. We comforted ourselves to the fact that we were young, and that we’d learn and show the world we could do better next time around.
With the OnePlus 2, we made rosy plans. We were more confident, and prepared a lot more inventory. We told our users it would be 30-50x easier to get invites, and they needn’t worry. Yet, we only began shipping in meaningful quantities this week, nearly a month after our initial targeted shipping date. You can talk all you want, but in the end, flawless execution speaks much louder than unfulfilled promises.
I’d like to apologize on behalf of OnePlus for the delay.
To our fans, sorry. We were equally excited when we saw your excitement around the OnePlus 2. We know how it feels waiting and waiting for something you really want, while being given ETAs that go unfulfilled. We appreciate the trust and support that you have given to a relatively small and unknown company like OnePlus. We know that you are rooting for us, and want nothing more than to see us succeed. Therefore, it feels extra terrible to let you down this time around, again.
To our partners, sorry. We know how hard it is to run a business, and admire the way you’ve built your companies to operate efficiently and smartly. We know how much planning and coordination is involved in a launch like this, and that it can take some time to learn how to work with our young and scrappy, but inexperienced team. We like to think that what we lack in experience can be made up for in hard work and invested hours, but this time that was not the case. We never want to cause unnecessary complications in your operations and appreciate you helping us learn and grow.
To our team, sorry. This delay has brought huge opportunity cost upon our OnePlus. It has shortened the product life cycle of the OnePlus 2, as well as caused huge reputational damage to our company. Although we don’t think competition will impact us much, it’s still undeniable that we’ve given a month to competing products to catch up. In addition, it has put a dent on our strong forward momentum and made it harder for us to reach our full business potential as a company.
Truth is, hardware is extremely hard. There are so many things to consider, like cash flow, inventory, supply chain and production. Every step of the way, there are landmines for the uninitiated and uncareful. This is a reflection and not an excuse.
In fact, there are very few excuses in this world that are valid. We simply messed up again and apologize for that. We don’t plan on making further promises for future launches, and will instead focus on showing the world how we’ve improved through our actions.
Over the past few days, we’ve been discussing how we can make it up to our fans for the delay. One of the best ideas we have is to open sales up for an hour sometime later this month or early next, to make the entire process a bit more painless for would-be OnePlus 2 users. We will need to look into production and operations to determine when this is most feasible. We’ll keep you posted.
As we start to really ramp up the shipping of OnePlus 2, we look forward to all (don’t be afraid of being harsh with us) product feedback. Help us improve.
Well, we messed up the launch of the OnePlus One as well. Although inventory levels ramped up eventually, months after the announcement, it was still extremely difficult to buy the device. We comforted ourselves to the fact that we were young, and that we’d learn and show the world we could do better next time around.
With the OnePlus 2, we made rosy plans. We were more confident, and prepared a lot more inventory. We told our users it would be 30-50x easier to get invites, and they needn’t worry. Yet, we only began shipping in meaningful quantities this week, nearly a month after our initial targeted shipping date. You can talk all you want, but in the end, flawless execution speaks much louder than unfulfilled promises.
I’d like to apologize on behalf of OnePlus for the delay.
To our fans, sorry. We were equally excited when we saw your excitement around the OnePlus 2. We know how it feels waiting and waiting for something you really want, while being given ETAs that go unfulfilled. We appreciate the trust and support that you have given to a relatively small and unknown company like OnePlus. We know that you are rooting for us, and want nothing more than to see us succeed. Therefore, it feels extra terrible to let you down this time around, again.
To our partners, sorry. We know how hard it is to run a business, and admire the way you’ve built your companies to operate efficiently and smartly. We know how much planning and coordination is involved in a launch like this, and that it can take some time to learn how to work with our young and scrappy, but inexperienced team. We like to think that what we lack in experience can be made up for in hard work and invested hours, but this time that was not the case. We never want to cause unnecessary complications in your operations and appreciate you helping us learn and grow.
To our team, sorry. This delay has brought huge opportunity cost upon our OnePlus. It has shortened the product life cycle of the OnePlus 2, as well as caused huge reputational damage to our company. Although we don’t think competition will impact us much, it’s still undeniable that we’ve given a month to competing products to catch up. In addition, it has put a dent on our strong forward momentum and made it harder for us to reach our full business potential as a company.
Truth is, hardware is extremely hard. There are so many things to consider, like cash flow, inventory, supply chain and production. Every step of the way, there are landmines for the uninitiated and uncareful. This is a reflection and not an excuse.
In fact, there are very few excuses in this world that are valid. We simply messed up again and apologize for that. We don’t plan on making further promises for future launches, and will instead focus on showing the world how we’ve improved through our actions.
Over the past few days, we’ve been discussing how we can make it up to our fans for the delay. One of the best ideas we have is to open sales up for an hour sometime later this month or early next, to make the entire process a bit more painless for would-be OnePlus 2 users. We will need to look into production and operations to determine when this is most feasible. We’ll keep you posted.
As we start to really ramp up the shipping of OnePlus 2, we look forward to all (don’t be afraid of being harsh with us) product feedback. Help us improve.
