OnePlus Ends Its US and Europe Run, Retiring OxygenOS After 11 Years

OnePlus confirmed this week that it will stop launching new phones in the US and Europe, closing an eleven-year run and handing its OxygenOS software over to parent company Oppo’s ColorOS. Current owners keep their warranties and update schedules. No new OnePlus hardware is coming to either region after this.

The confirmation landed six months after OnePlus first denied the same outcome, and years after the company tried and abandoned this identical software merger once before. Both patterns point to an ending that was visible long before this week’s statement.

Oppo Confirms the End of an 11-Year Run

“After careful assessment, OnePlus will no longer launch new products in Europe and North America. All users’ rights and interests, including after-sales support and software updates, will remain fully guaranteed,” the company said in a statement to TechCrunch.

Shuang Chen, head of marketing at OnePlus, told Tom’s Guide the call had been considered for months, not rushed out. “This is not a decision made in a rush,” Chen said. “It’s about knowing when to go all-in and when to make a choice.”

Oppo Europe chief executive Elvis Zhou called the region “a key market” and made clear his own company is not filling the American gap. “Currently we do not have any product plans for North America, but Oppo continues to explore market opportunities at different regions across the globe,” Zhou said.

OnePlus cofounder Pete Lau recently rejoined Oppo as chief product officer, and Oppo says the shutdown folds OnePlus’s technology and product philosophy directly into the parent brand. ColorOS is no small landing spot, with 600 million monthly users across 60-plus markets, and OnePlus itself had grown into a sizable business, its global user count climbing from 50 million in 2020 to 130 million users by 2024.

The signs were already there. OnePlus canceled two of its most anticipated devices in January, including a second foldable, and its newest flagship, the OnePlus 15, had its US sale delayed months after its global debut because Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification was backlogged by that year’s federal government shutdown.

The Denials Didn’t Hold

OnePlus spent half a year pushing back on exactly this outcome. Android Headlines first reported in January that the company would end North American operations. OnePlus refuted it, and the report itself got overshadowed by controversy after readers discovered it had been written with AI assistance.

The denials kept coming. OnePlus disputed similar reporting again in March, with then-CEO Robin Liu calling the claims false. Then, on July 13, German outlet WinFuture published a report, citing an unnamed source, claiming OnePlus and Oppo would announce the withdrawal from Europe and the US within days.

Three days later, they did.

PhoneArena, which covered the original January leak with real skepticism, described its own reaction to the confirmation in one word: “finally.” Reddit threads in the same window flagged a slower repair pipeline and the winding down of OnePlus’s student discount program, both read by fans as further evidence the retreat was already under way.

OnePlus Already Tried This Merger

The OxygenOS story does not start this week. OnePlus and Oppo merged their product and R&D teams in June 2021, and Pete Lau framed the move as “OnePlus 2.0,” promising the newly unified operating system would keep the DNA of OxygenOS. The company committed to running no ads in its software and reaffirmed that bootloader unlocking, a feature enthusiasts prize, would stay intact.

Eight months later, that plan collapsed. OnePlus called off a planned merger between OxygenOS and ColorOS in February 2022, opting instead to keep the two interfaces visually distinct while sharing a codebase underneath.

1. 2015: OxygenOS launches as a near-stock alternative to heavier Android skins.
2. 2020: Cofounder Carl Pei leaves OnePlus after reported clashes with Pete Lau over the brand’s direction.
3. 2021: OnePlus merges its OxygenOS codebase with Oppo’s ColorOS under the banner “OnePlus 2.0.”
4. 2022: The company reverses the interface merger after user backlash, though the shared codebase remains.
5. 2025: OxygenOS 16 rolls out looking, by reviewers’ own accounts, nearly identical to ColorOS 16.
6. 2026: Oppo confirms OxygenOS is retired for good as OnePlus exits the US and Europe.

Carl Pei’s departure sits inside that same timeline. He left in 2020 after reportedly clashing with then-CEO Pete Lau over the company’s direction, and went on to found Nothing, a rival that now sells phones of its own and has drawn some of the attention OnePlus once held.

A Memory Chip Crunch Forced the Math

Behind the branding decision sits a blunter problem. The smartphone industry is shrinking, and the cheap end of it is shrinking fastest. Worldwide shipments are forecast to fall 13.9% this year to 1.09 billion units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

“The smartphone market has entered one of its most challenging periods, driven by acute memory supply constraints that are directly impacting both shipments and demand,” said Nabila Popal, IDC’s senior research director for worldwide consumer devices.

Component costs in the entry-level segment, exactly where OnePlus built its name, have jumped between 20% and 30% since early 2025, squeezing Chinese brands with thinner margins harder than Apple or Samsung. The first quarter of 2026 broke a ten-quarter streak of growth, with global shipments down 2.9% year over year to 293.8 million units.

Oppo’s own shipments fell by double digits year over year in the second quarter of 2026, according to Counterpoint Research, which pointed to weak demand across most of its key markets. The firm said OnePlus’s US shipment share had already dropped below 1% over the past year.

That growth era’s over. The company is now doubling down on China and retreating from the rest of the world.

Maurice Klaehne, Counterpoint’s senior research analyst, put it to TechCrunch that way, describing OnePlus’s old identity as the flagship killer built on high-end specs at a mid-range price.

Who Feels This the Most?

Existing OnePlus owners keep their warranties, security patches and software updates, now delivered through ColorOS instead of OxygenOS. Buyers in the US and Europe lose the option of a new OnePlus phone entirely, narrowing Android choice down to Samsung and Google in the US, since Oppo has no hardware plans there either.

Reddit users have already flagged a slower repair pipeline, and OnePlus is winding down its student discount program along with other community perks. Rollbacks to OxygenOS will reportedly stay possible for those who prefer it, though doing so could cost future updates.

• Software updates continue within each device’s original support window, arriving as ColorOS instead of OxygenOS.
• Warranty and repairs route through Oppo’s service network, though users report longer wait times already.
• New hardware stops. No further OnePlus phones, tablets or earbuds are planned for US or European shelves.
• Community perks, including the student discount program, are being phased out.

“We’re basically down to Samsung and Google at this point,” the tech site Droid Life wrote in its own postmortem on the announcement. Nothing, the rival Carl Pei started after leaving OnePlus, is one of the few brands positioned to inherit that audience.

Gizmodo summed up the loss for American holdouts bluntly: without a fighter like OnePlus, “the iMessage chains we wear only get heavier.”

India’s Own Countdown to 2027

OnePlus insists India is different. “OnePlus India continues to operate its business as usual, with all local operations on track,” the company told BusinessToday, adding, “We urge the media to exercise restraint before amplifying unverified speculation.”

Bloomberg’s reporting says otherwise. Citing a person familiar with Oppo’s internal planning, Bloomberg reported the company is weighing a wind-down of every OnePlus market outside China, including India, by 2027, with the US and Europe going first. If the plan holds, China would become the only market where OnePlus still sells phones under its own name.

Reports have already outlined a deeper retreat pulling India into 2027, even as OnePlus keeps launching devices there, including the recent OnePlus N6 and a teased N6x. The company has stayed quiet on whether a OnePlus 16 flagship is still coming to India.

Leadership has already turned over. Robin Liu stepped down as OnePlus India’s CEO earlier this year, and the brand has folded more of its after-sales service into Oppo’s own centers, the kind of quiet integration that preceded the US and European exit by months.

Oppo, meanwhile, says it will lean harder into Central Europe. Realme, the third BBK-owned phone brand, is doing the reverse: pulling out of China to concentrate on markets like Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.

Realme’s own withdrawal from China is set for the same broad window Oppo has drawn for OnePlus everywhere outside it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will My OnePlus Phone Still Get Software Updates?

Yes. OnePlus and Oppo have both said existing devices will keep receiving software updates, security patches and support within each phone’s originally promised window. Eligible phones move to ColorOS starting with the Android 17 rollout, while older models outside that upgrade scope get maintenance-only support.

Can I Stay on OxygenOS Instead of Switching to ColorOS?

Oppo says a rollback to OxygenOS will remain possible for devices that update to ColorOS, though the company has not detailed which versions will be available or for how long. Sticking with OxygenOS could leave a device outside the scope of future updates.

Is OnePlus Leaving India Too?

Not officially. OnePlus India has repeatedly denied exit plans and says operations remain on track. Bloomberg’s sourcing describes an internal plan under which OnePlus would wind down operations in every market outside China, India included, by 2027, and this is reportedly the first report to place India inside that longer-term restructuring picture.

Why Is OnePlus Doing This Now?

OnePlus was squeezed from several directions at once: a global memory chip shortage, tougher carrier relationships in the US, intense competition from rival Chinese brands, and geopolitical friction around Chinese-made phones, including a trade-secret lawsuit from Apple.

Does the Shutdown Cover More Than Just Phones?

Yes. OnePlus’s own statement referred to new products broadly, not just smartphones, meaning its tablet and earbud lines also stop launching in the US and Europe alongside its phones.