OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei left the company to start his own company, reports TechCrunch citing two sources familiar with the matter.
OnePlus was founded in December 2013 by Carl Pei and Pete Lau, who is currently the CEO of the company. The Chinese phone maker gained quick recognition for its aggressive marketing tactics, all designed by Carl Pei, who was previously Oppo’s Chief Marketing Officer.
The efforts of two men paid off and now OnePlus is one of the most successful premium smartphone brands in India and other markets.
Carl Pei (left) with Pete Lau (center)
Pei has been the face of OnePlus in Western markets and has appeared at various launch events and fan meetings due to his fluency in English. His departure from OnePlus has yet to be officially confirmed, and as of this writing, his LinkedIn and Twitter BIOS still says it is associated with OnePlus.
While we await an official response from OnePlus on this matter, images of what are supposedly internal memos sent to OnePlus staff have surfaced on Reddit, listing the company’s leadership structure and missing Pei.
Alleged images of the internal note of OnePlus
Furthermore, the memo also says that Emily Dai, who is currently the head of OnePlus India, has been appointed head of the Nord lineup and will report to Lau. Pei was previously in charge of the Nord series.
Pei’s yet to be officially confirmed departure from OnePlus comes ahead of the OnePlus 8T launch, which will be released tomorrow. The company is also said to be expanding its Nord series sometime this month.
Source 1 | Source 2
