OnePlus One Price Hiked in Europe; India Likely to Follow

OnePlus on Wednesday announced a hike in price for Europe (specifically the countries part of the European Union) of its "2014 flagship killer" smartphone, the One, citing the decline in value of the Euro.

The company in an emailed press statement also hinted that the revised pricing policy for the Indian market has not been finalised as yet; though it added an announcement can be expected in the near future.

The company took to its blog to explain the "instability of Euro" as one of the biggest reasons for the hike and confirmed that the new prices will come in effect in the country starting March 25. The OnePlus One will be available at the new prices of EUR 299 (approximately Rs. 20,000) for the 16GB Silk White model, a EUR 30 jump, and EUR 349 (approximately Rs. 23,450) for the 64GB Sandstone Black model, a EUR 50 jump.

The company added that consumers can buy the One (Review | Pictures) smartphone at its original price of EUR 269 (approximately Rs. 18,000) for the 16GB model and EUR 299 (approximately Rs. 20,000) for the 64GB model before March 25, including during its open sale on Tuesdays.

OnePlus also claimed that it will absorb all the losses for the next seven days for selling the One below cost. "We think it's only fair to give you a week's notice and hope you can understand why we have to do this."

"As you may know, the euro is quite unstable at the moment. Last year, many other companies insured themselves against this volatility by launching devices with higher prices in Europe than in other markets. This is something that we opted not to do, as we are committed to maintaining razor-thin margins in order to give the most value back to our fans. Unfortunately, as the value of the euro continued to drop, our razor-thin margins began to turn into 0 margins. Due to the current value of the euro, we are now selling devices at a loss in the EU. In light of these exchange rate shifts and trends, we will be making some changes to our pricing structure for the One in markets that use the euro as currency," OnePlus said in its blog.

The company in the emailed statement also suggested that new pricing policy and its continued commitment to razor thin margins will apply to the OnePlus 2 smartphone as well, which it says can be expected in the third quarter of this year.

OnePlus accessories won't be affected by the price hike and will be available to buy at the current price.

To recall, the 16GB Silk White OnePlus One is currently retailing in India at Rs. 18,999 while the 64GB Sandstone Black variant is priced at Rs. 21,999 in India.

Earlier this month Apple decided to hike the maximum retail price of the entire iPhone range in India. Though, Apple did not make an official statement, industry observers attribute the move to the changes introduced in the union budget.