OnePlus has announced it plans to increase the price of the OnePlus One smartphone across its European markets.
Carl Pei, the company’s Global Director, floated the idea on Twitter earlier this month, but the move is now officially going ahead.
It’s in response to the plummeting value of the Euro, which is now worth exactly $1.06. That’s down from nearly $1.40 in early 2014.
“Unfortunately, as the value of the euro continued to drop, our razor-thin margins began to turn into 0 margins,” explained OnePlus Digital Marketing Manager David Sanmartin, writing on the company’s blog. “Due to the current value of the Euro, we are now selling devices at a loss in the EU.”
“We sincerely wish we had an alternative option here. We explored all possible avenues in an attempt to avoid any changes, but as a start-up with exceedingly slim margins, our current Euro prices simply aren’t sustainable.”
Under the new pricing plan, the 16GB Silk White OnePlus One will cost 299 Euros, up from the current 269 Euros.
The 64GB Sandstone Black OnePlus One, meanwhile, will increase to 349 Euros, up on today’s 299 Euros.
The new pricing structure is set to go into effect from March 25, which means prospective European buyers can still snap up the handset before the cost rises.
OnePlus's graphic depicting falling value of the Euro against the US dollar
Unfortunately, the move has rubbed some users up the wrong way, with outcry coming via social media about the rising cost of a smartphone that’s nearly one year old.
The OnePlus One launched last year, boasting high-end specs for the time despite its comparatively low-end price-tag.
Pei, responding to complaints on Reddit, said: “Euro value has fallen much faster than component prices, while the cost of doing business in Europe is significantly higher than elsewhere in the world.”
“Some might be wondering why other’s aren’t increasing prices. Here are some reasons: Their margins can sustain it; they originally planned to lower prices, but have scrapped those plans; they have too much stock; they have no control over their distributors; they didn’t want to be first.”
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The move isn’t unprecedented; Apple increased many of its products prices on March 9 across Europe, likely in response to the Euro’s falling value.
Apple also increased the baseline price for App Store apps to £0.79, up from £0.69, back in January as part of changes across the whole of Europe.
OnePlus also announced it would definitely not be increasing prices significantly for future smartphone models.
“If anything, I’ve said multiple times in interviews that we plan to keep our current margin structure (razor thin) in the foreseeable future,” said Pei.