“As we’ve matured as a company we’ve made a lot of improvements to our supply chain. We recently sold out of the OnePlus 3T Midnight Black last week, and now some versions of the OnePlus 3T are beginning to sell out in some regions. Everything is right on track.”
As OnePlus had previously relied on an invitation system to sell its devices, the improvements to the supply chain referenced could relate to the way in which the OnePlus 3T (and OnePlus 3) can be purchased. The invite system would have helped the company keep manufacturing costs down in the early days, but those later devices have been available for purchase in a more traditional manner. This message could simply suggest that OnePlus has accurately judged the production volume of the OnePlus 3T for the demand.
Of course, improvements to the supply chain could also indicate that the OnePlus 3T 128 GB is going to be back in stock. According to the India Express, OnePlus said: “We will continue providing OnePlus 3T 128 GB Gunmetal to the market in the future. People who want to get the device can wait for next wave of inventory.”
It’s possible that this only applies to India, though it’s equally possible that 128 GB OnePlus 3T hasn’t actually been discontinued and is just out of stock in some areas.
I pitched some follow-up questions for clarification on this but OnePlus declined to comment.
Previous coverage: Judging by all the rumors, it seems like OnePlus is well under way with the OnePlus 5, its new flagship set to launch this summer. Ahead of its release, OnePlus has now confirmed that the 128 GB model of the OnePlus 3T has been discontinued.
The news arrives via a Reddit thread, which provided a screen capture from a OnePlus customer service rep outlining the reason for discontinuation. Apparently, OnePlus needs to focus its efforts on “one flagship device” (presumably the aforementioned OnePlus 5) only, as it’s just a “small company.”
While that may be true, tech website Tweakers indicates that the UFS storage used in the 128 GB model is no longer being supplied by Samsung. This means it’s also possible that OnePlus hasn’t just decided to prioritize its upcoming flagship, but that it can’t actually produce any more — issues with the supply of such storage components have been in the news several times recently. (For clarity, I couldn’t actually find anything to connect that precise Samsung component to the 128 GB OnePlus 3T — but it is out of stock).
Either way, OnePlus is expected to unveil its new flagship in another month or so — you probably won’t have long to wait to get your hands on another 128 GB device from OnePlus.
The OnePlus 3T 128 GB is still available in some regions (like the UK) for now, but stock may run out soon. Meanwhile, the 64 GB OnePlus 3T can still be picked up in gunmetal and soft gold color variants.