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OnePlus CEO Pete Lau talks company, new products, and refusal to ‘compromise’ on wireless charging

OnePlus has always positioned itself as a company that listens to its customers to improve its products, and that’s shown over the years. Today, CEO Pete Lau is answering fan questions about the company, the phones, and himself.

Today’s interview started off talking about Pete Lau and his relationship with OnePlus. He talks about some of his early experiences in the tech industry before co-founding OnePlus, including working as an electrical engineer. He also talks about what it’s like to work as the CEO, and his relationship with his employees.

Each quarter, I get a chance to sit down with our entire team and share how things are progressing for us as a company, where the challenges are and how we are addressing them. This is a very frank and open discussion, and I enjoy the chance to see and hear from everyone.​

Further, Lau touches on future hardware and specifically, how early the process begins. Fans often ask for things to be changed on the hardware late in the game, but major parts of the hardware are pretty much set in stone 8-9 months ahead of the launch.

Hardware for example might be set 8-9 months in advance, but certain elements of design will continue to be iterated closer and closer to perfection in the months following. Software even more so – the software iteration process never stops.

Lau also commented that the success of the Bullets Wireless headphones this year has been one of the more unexpected things to happen, as evidenced by the low stock.

This is the first Bluetooth earphones product we created, and the bullets have been overwhelmingly well received. We are very excited about this and appreciate all the feedback our community has contributed towards this new product! Due to such positive feedback, our production quantity fell short of expectations, but we are doing what we can to ensure adequate stock in the future.​

Another interesting detail Lau touches on in this interview is that of wireless charging. In the past, OnePlus has been asked about this feature, stating that it wouldn’t be including it because of the phone’s design and the speed of “Dash Charge.” However, with the OnePlus 6 and its glass-back design, many have been curious why the company won’t adopt the popular feature, especially now that Apple is pushing it into the mainstream.

Lau says that OnePlus has been testing wireless charging, but that the company doesn’t want to implement it until the technology is right and doesn’t “compromise.”

FAST wireless charging. Without compromises. We have tested and will continue to test wireless charging technology going forward, but for now, we have not yet found a solution that meets our expectations for speed and convenience. This technology also still results in a thickening of the device and a heating of the device in the charging process.​


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