OnePlus 5T was launched last week and replaced the OnePlus 5 as the flagship device of the company. OnePlus touts the new device to be the flagship killer which offers powerful specs at almost half the price of an iPhone X.
However, the OnePlus 5T is not a major upgrade over the OnePlus 5. With the exception of the display and camera, these phones are almost the same. Since the pricing of the both OnePlus 5 and 5T is identical, it was expected that either the older device will get a price cut or be phased out.
OnePlus India's General Manager Vikas Aggarwal confirmed that the OnePlus 5 will be discontinued once it's sold out, which should probably happen by the end of the year. It's the same thing that happened with the OnePlus 3T, which was discontinued at the end of May.
“If you look at our previous phone, the OnePlus 3T the last batch was sold out during Diwali and now the product will be discontinued. The same goes for the OnePlus 5, which will also be sold out in sometime, and we’ll have only one product OnePlus 5T in the market. As a brand we want to make sure there is one device which is the latest, and the previous devices are usually sold out once the new product launches.”
Mr. Aggarwal also said that OnePlus launched a second flagship with minimal improvements over the previous model because at the time of OnePlus 5's release it was the best phone the company could possibly offer.
However, in the meantime, many companies launched new smartphones that offer similar, if not better specs, so OnePlus needed to remain competitive, hence the OnePlus 5T's release.
