If you happen to have been hoping to cop a OnePlus Watch 3, you may lastly purchase one beginning at this time. The issue is it’s now not the $329.99 worth that was initially meant when OnePlus introduced the gadget just a few months in the past. It’s now $499, a $170 or roughly 52 % markup.
The worth hike was noticed by a number of Android blogs, however what makes this odd is a scarcity of official communication from OnePlus itself. Usually, firms will alert press and long-time clients as customers typically don’t react effectively to unexplained worth hikes. Nonetheless, no such trace got here from OnePlus earlier than the smartwatch went on sale. When requested concerning the worth enhance, OnePlus spokesperson Spenser Clean informed The Verge, “We don’t have any extra remark to share right now.”
The apparent clarification, although unconfirmed by OnePlus, could be tariffs. Until you’ve been hibernating underneath a rock, you’ve most likely seen headlines about President Trump’s ever-increasing tariffs towards merchandise shipped from China. (As of this writing, they’re at the moment sitting at 145 percent.) Whereas most wearables and gadget makers I’ve spoken to have acknowledged tariffs will have an effect on pricing, some have opted to take a extra wait-and-see strategy. That is, nevertheless, one of many first examples of a smartwatch truly rising in worth, not to mention by such a dramatic quantity.
It’s additionally uncommon on condition that many gadget makers tried to delay such worth hikes by increasing inventory forward of the tariffs taking impact — maintaining customers from truly feeling the impression of tariffs on their pockets as quickly. Others, like Framework, temporarily opted to halt some sales within the U.S.
However OnePlus might not have been in a position to stockpile items within the US early due to an ironic mistake. The OnePlus Watch 3 was initially set to launch again in February however was delayed due to an unfixable typo engraved within the backplate.
That typo: ‘Meda in China.’