Towards the end of last year, we first saw renders of an upcoming mid-range OnePlus device shortly after renders of the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro surfaced online. At the time, we believed that the company would launch the mid-range device as the OnePlus 8 Lite alongside its flagships for 2020. However, when the OnePlus 8 series was finally unveiled earlier this year in April, there was no sign of the OnePlus 8 Lite. Just a few weeks after the OnePlus 8 series launch, we learned that the mid-ranger might be launched as the OnePlus Z later this year in July with the MediaTek Dimensty 1000 SoC in tow, but there was still no official information from the company regarding the device. Now, the company has finally confirmed that they're indeed working on an affordable smartphone which will be launched later this year.

In a recent post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, CEO Pete Lau has confirmed that the company is working to diversify its portfolio and, once again, make affordable smartphones that will give more users the chance to experience OnePlus devices. In an exclusive interview with Fast Company, Lau further revealed that the company is also planning on expanding into new product categories.

While the company hasn't officially revealed any of the upcoming products, Lau has confirmed that a glimpse of this new strategy will arrive soon with an upcoming announcement for the Indian market. Following that, the company plans to bring affordable devices to other markets, including North America and Europe. Lau was quoted saying, "We can look at it as having more affordable product offering...but all products that still remain up to the OnePlus standard...and through this enabling, more people to have access to OnePlus products." We believe that the aforementioned announcement will, most likely, be the new mid-range device featuring MediaTek's Dimensity 1000L SoC, a flat display, a centered hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera, and triple rear cameras.

Source: Fast Company, Weibo