OnePlus Apologizes For Messing Up OnePlus 2 Launch
It was, perhaps, inevitable, if not unsurprising. The OnePlus 2 garnered such a positive response manifested in pre-order numbers that there was bound to be some hiccup in the shipment chain. And now, OnePlus is indeed owning up to that after shipping nearly a month later than its intended schedule. It isn't offering excuses, or even explanations. Just apologies to everyone involved. But it also isn't promising massive and positive changes, only the usual "special sale" reparations it does when it gets some egg on its face.
"Hardware is extremely hard", says OnePlus, and they're probably not trying to make a pun. No one probably would deny that and even the biggest manufacturers experience a bump here and there. How much more a startup the size and age of OnePlus? What many, both fans and critics, will point out isn't the fact that hardware is hard but that OnePlus, yet again, managed to overhype and underdeliver. They claimed to know better the second time around and was confident that they had measures in place to save them from last year's difficulties. Well, so much for those.
Aside from apologizing to its users, who are of course most dismayed, OnePlus also apologized to its partners as well as its own employees, both of whom are adversely affected by the delays, from delays in schedules to negative perceptions of the company. Those relationships are especially critical for a small company like OnePlus who has to compete for deals, resources, and even people, against bigger, more established brands.
Sadly, OnePlus isn't giving any concrete statement on how it plans to address delays and supply issues once and for all. In fact, it might even be sparking more uncertainty by saying that they don't plan on making promises for future launches. They do plan to compensate disappointed fans by opening up sales for an hour in an also undetermined time in the future., But those might not matter so much when you can't be assured when you'll actually get the smartphone you bought.
SOURCE: OnePlus