Carl Pei is perhaps best known for being the co-founder of OnePlus alongside Pete Lau back in 2013. The company"s first product, the OnePlus One, was highly anticipated for its flagship specifications at a price point that was roughly half that of the competition. The device went on sale at online storefronts in April 2014, and managed to sell over one million units before the end of the year, surpassing its 50,000 units sold target with aplomb.
Since then, the firm has released mainline successors at an annual cadence - along with other variants sprinkled in between - with the latest one being the OnePlus Nord. Now, it has been revealed that Pei has left the company nearly seven years after forming it.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, multiple publications have independently confirmed that Carl Pei left OnePlus a few weeks ago. Although Pei"s Twitter and LinkedIn bylines still associate him with OnePlus, the executive does not appear in the company"s organizational charts.
It is unclear why Pei left the company. Even though reports claim that the executive is going "independent", there are scarce details on why this is the case. Furthermore, little is known about his next venture, including details as to whether it is even related to tech or not.
Regardless, this organizational shakeup will likely come as a blow to OnePlus, which is scheduled to reveal the OnePlus 8T tomorrow. Pei was a highly public figure closely associated with the company, and his departure leaves his fellow co-founder Pete Lau to steer the ship moving forward.
Source: Android Central, TechCrunch