OnePlus lays off staff in Europe to focus on key markets

OnePlus lays off staff in Europe to focus on key markets

OnePlus has laid off many employees across Europe according to Engadget's sources. 

Engadget reports that many regional offices such as the U.K, France and Germany have been downsized by as much as 80%, leaving the team strength of around three people in some countries. Apparently, this isn't the first time that it has happened. Teams in Spain and Italy reportedy went through the same phase last year before they were eventually laid off completely.

When asked for comment on the report, the OnePlus spokesperson revealed that the layoff is part of a "normal restructuring" in Europe in order to focus on key markets. 

"Europe is a very important market for us and has been since the beginning of OnePlus,” the spokesperson told Engadget. “We’re doing some strategic restructuring in Europe, and in fact are even hiring in the region.”

One source shared that teams in Denmark, Finland, Netherlands and Belgium are not affected by the restructuring. While the Covid-19 pandemic has forced GoPro to cut more than 20% of its workforce and Google to slow down its hiring, OnePlus' restructuring of the European teams is said to be not related to the coronavirus. 

The relationship between OnePlus and European telcos is believed to be one of the several reasons. The recently announced OnePlus 8 series does not have vast support of telcos in Europe. The phones are only carried by one telco.

Ben Wood, Chief Analyst at CCS Insight, feels it is the inability of OnePlus to expand beyond its fan base that caused its downfall. As OnePlus shifted towards selling premium phones in the past two years, it has alienated some of its core fans. This led to lower-than-expected sales of its phones in Europe.

Source: Engadget