The cheap OnePlus Nord smartphones are proving naysayers wrong

It’s no secret that OnePlus has ambitious to carve out space for itself in the budget and mid-range smartphone segments. Last year the company launched three Nord smartphones, deviating from the typical path that Oneplus has carved out for itself.

While the OnePlus Nord was considered by many to be one of the best mid-range smartphones of 2020, the cheaper OnePlus Nord N10 and Nord N100 were brushed off by many in the media as a mistake or even being detrimental to the OnePlus brand. We don’t know how well the Oneplus Nord N10 and N100 a fairing in Europe and other markets across the globe, but new numbers from Wave7 Research (via PC Mag) show that the two new phones have made a big splash at Metro by T-Mobile in the US. 

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Less than a month after going on sale at Metro by T-Mobile stores across the US, the Oneplus Nord and OnePlus Nord N10 have allowed the brand to secure nearly 15% of all phone sales. To some, 15% may not sound like much, but that’s an increase from 0% since these are the first OnePlus smartphones sold at Metro by T-Mobile. 

“OnePlus is getting back to its fundamentals, offering good specs at an affordable price.”

– Wave7 Principal Jeff Moore

The Nord N10 5G sells for $299.99 and the N100 costs $179.99, but Metro by T-Mobile is giving away both pones for free to anyone switching from a different service provider. Unfortunately, the numbers provided by Wave7 Research don’t give us any indication as to how many customers are purchasing the two phones versus choosing them as their free service when signing up for Metro by T-Mobile.

OnePlus is also showing market share gains at T-Mobile where the Oneplus Nord N10 and N100 have been available since late January, but the exact increase wasn’t shared. 

Based on Metro by T-Mobile’s 16 million average smartphone sales per year, OnePlus could be looking at an additional 2 million units sold in the US alone. While we may not know exactly how many smartphones OnePlus sold in 2020, an IDC report showed that the 7.4 million Pixel devices sold by Google but it ahead of that OnePlus that year in total sales. If the N10 and N100 are seeing the same success in other countries, OnePlus’ budget-friendly Nord smartphone could easily outsell their flagship devices this year.