China's OnePlus, supported by Qualcomm and T-Mobile, enters the US smartphone market

A five-year-old Chinese smartphone company whose high-end products are little known outside of a technology-hungry niche enters the US market on Monday with the support of two key local allies: the chip-making giant Qualcomm, and the mobile phone operator T-Mobile.

OnePlus, based in Shenzhen, comes after US mobile operators AT & T and Verizon have pulled out of their collaboration with China's Huawei on high-end phones in the face of pressure from the US government, which consider Huawei as a security risk.

But the OnePlus alliance, to be announced today in New York, shows how much trade relations between the United States and China, including those using the most advanced technologies, are progressing despite the trade war between the United States and China. China in the United States. OnePlus has quietly become Qualcomm's third-largest customer for the most expensive mobile phone chips, behind Samsung and LG Electronics, according to data from the Cbadys market research.

Last week, Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon introduced 29-year-old OnePlus founder Carl Pei to the center of Hong Kong's annual partner summit, where Pei announced to the public that his company would be among the first to launch a phone worthy of a fifth. generation (5G) of mobile technology using Qualcomm chips.

In an interview, Pei declined to comment on the specifics of American carrier relationships. But T-Mobile executives will be part of the Monday event and sources said the company would sell OnePlus phones. Such partnerships with operators are essential to have an impact on the US smartphone market.

"I do not know if it's the right time for anyone," Pei said of the prospect of US telephony entry – a dominant sales network. "It's a good time for us."

The phone that will be unveiled Monday, called the 6T, will sell for more than $ 500, but includes features that are usually only present in more expensive handsets. Xiaomi, a Chinese rival who is also interested in feature-rich phones at great prices, has announced plans to launch in the US next year, but has not responded to a request for comment as to whether these plans are still in place.

OnePlus is unusual among Chinese technology companies, which typically focus on mbad-produced products for domestic customers. OnePlus, on the other hand, only sells high-end phones costing more than US $ 400, almost exclusively online, except in India, and derives two-thirds of its revenues from outside China.

He became the first high-end smartphone vendor in India with a 40% market share, a price-sensitive market, in which high-end phones from Apple and Samsung have made little progress, according to data from Counterpoint.

Globally, in the category of phones over $ 400, Apple dominates with 43% of the market, followed by Samsung (24%), OPPO (10%), Huawei (9%), Xiaomi (3%) and OnePlus ( 2%), said Counterpoint.

According to the company, less than 100 people are dedicated to sales and more than half to research and product development.

OnePlus is affiliated with OPPO, a Chinese manufacturer of smartphones and a major player in mid-range phones, sold around the world for around $ 300. Cbadys badyst Mo Jia said the relationship was key to helping OnePlus reduce costs.

Pei said that OnePlus shares supply chains and the supply chain with OPPO, which allows it to manufacture in China and India at lower costs than other manufacturers.

According to the registration documents of the Chinese companies, the two companies have common shareholders, including the Chinese magnate retired Duan Yongping, who is also the owner of Vivo, another major Chinese supplier of smartphones. OPPO and Vivo are known for their aggressive offline marketing and mbadive sales channels that reach small-town customers in China, India and other developing markets.

QUANDRY OF QUALCOMM

Qualcomm is looking forward to supporting OnePlus to maintain its lead in the high-end mobile chip market.

"Most high-end smartphone players, including Apple, Samsung and Huawei, now have their own silicon and use it widely for their high-end smartphones," said Kiranjeet Kaur, head of research at IDC.

Qualcomm, pioneer of key mobile technologies, is facing a bitter dispute with Apple, which designs more and more its own processors.

Huawei, which replaced Apple in the second quarter of the global smartphone market, behind Samsung, sells high-end phones with its own Kirin chipsets, while some low-end models use Qualcomm chips.

Even though Huawei has stated that it does not intend to sell its chips to third parties, the company is moving from customer to competitor Qualcomm, while the telecommunications industry is moving to 5G technology.

Qualcomm chairman Amon described the delicate situation as a "coopetition relationship" at the summit last week.

OnePlus, which claims to have sent the world's first 5G tweet to a test Friday, announced that it would launch a 5G phone next year.

Pei ignored any fears that the Sino-US trade dispute is affecting American consumer confidence. "By the end of the day, all you can control is yours."

Pei, who was born in China and grew up in Sweden, said the brand was multicultural and international: "When we started, we found that social media allowed you to talk to everyone, as long as you spoke. their language. "