OnePlus is denying shutdown rumors, but the Android world should still be worried

What in the world is going on with OnePlus? That’s been the question on everyone’s mind for the last couple of weeks.

Earlier this month, it was reported that OnePlus had canceled two of its most anticipated phones of 2026: the OnePlus Open 2 and OnePlus 15s. This was followed by repeated teases from the same leaker that OnePlus was in trouble, along with another rumor claiming that the OnePlus 16 won’t get a global launch this year.

This all came to a head this past Tuesday with a shocking report from Android Headlines that OnePlus was being completely dismantled. OnePlus has since labeled that report as “false” and “misleading,” though the company’s wording has raised eyebrows. OnePlus North America issued a statement that it’s still operating “with full guarantee of users’ after-sales support,” but says nothing about future product releases.

Whatever is happening within the company, we should all hope things work out for the better, because a world without OnePlus — especially for Android fans — would be devastating.

If that’s all true, why the sudden melancholy for the company? For all the mistakes OnePlus has made (which are plenty), that doesn’t at all diminish the positive impact OnePlus has had — and continues to have — on the Android landscape.

The OnePlus 15 and 15R are prime examples of this. While they have their issues, they’re also two of the only phones in the US that are truly pushing the limits of silicon-carbon battery technology. Silicon-carbon batteries have been around for a couple of years now, but major brands like Samsung, Google, and Motorola act like they doesn’t exist.

Meanwhile, OnePlus fully embraced them, and the end result is a giant 7,300mAh battery inside the OnePlus 15 and an even larger 7,400mAh battery in the 15R. By comparison, Samsung and Google’s latest phones are barely pushing 5,000mAh batteries with older lithium-ion tech. This is the kind of needle-pushing that makes smartphones better, and for all my complaints about OnePlus’ latest phones, I have to give the company props for this.

Fast wired charging is another area in which OnePlus has long one-upped the competition. From its 20W charging speeds in 2016 to 65W in 2020, and now to 80W and 100W, OnePlus has been leading this race for years. It’s been great for OnePlus phones, and it’s almost certainly put pressure on other brands over the years to up their own charging game.

And those are just two examples. The OnePlus 7 Pro was one of the first phones to popularize 90Hz refresh rates; previous versions of OxygenOS stood out for their stock Android-like designs, and OnePlus’s iconic alert slider was a staple of the company’s phones for years. That’s also to say nothing of OnePlus’s pricing, which, up until recently, has been among the most competitive in the entire Android landscape.

As is true in every industry, more competition is a good thing, and OnePlus has brought it to the Android world since the OnePlus One was released in 2014. It’s impossible to say what the last decade of Android would have looked like without OnePlus, but it would almost certainly have been worse.

In addition to OnePlus’s broader impact on the Android ecosystem, we also need to acknowledge the role the company has played in the US smartphone market, specifically.

Compared to regions like Europe and Asia, it’s no secret that the smartphone choice in the US is dramatically smaller. Global brands like HUAWEI, HONOR, OPPO, Xiaomi, and vivo have no presence in the US, and, as fate would have it, those are the companies that consistently deliver some of the most innovative and boundary-pushing Android phones.

The US smartphone market is largely dominated by heavyweights Apple and Samsung, while Google and Motorola also each share a piece of the pie. Four main brands to choose from isn’t nearly enough, and if you prefer Android, that number shrinks to three.

OnePlus existing as that fifth (or fourth) choice is vital for healthy competition. Apple and Samsung’s duopoly is unlikely to disappear any time soon, but for US shoppers who aren’t impressed by either brand, we deserve an abundance of other options. Having those other options limited to Google, Motorola, and OnePlus isn’t ideal, but imagine how much worse it would be if that shrank to just Google and Motorola.

We need brands like OnePlus that can go toe-to-toe with the big dogs, and if OnePlus fails, it’s hard to see another company stepping up into its place.

As it stands today, OnePlus is operating like normal and has denied reports of its demise. The company hasn’t shut down and likely won’t vanish overnight.

Still, even with Android Headlines‘ report debunked, it’s apparent that something is happening within OnePlus; 2025’s botched release of the OnePlus 15 series is clear proof of that. And if it turns out that reports of the Open 2 and 15s cancellations are true, it’ll be even harder to ignore. What this all means for OnePlus’ immediate and long-term future is impossible to say; only OnePlus and its parent company, OPPO, know the answer.

As an Android fan, I hope the answer isn’t anything damning. For all the issues I have with OnePlus, the last thing I want to see is the company exiting or reducing its smartphone operations in any capacity. No one should be hoping for that.

For the reasons mentioned above and so many more, the Android world needs a strong and healthy OnePlus. I don’t want to settle for fewer choices and competition, and if OnePlus has taught us anything over the years, it’s that we should never settle.