OnePlus not launching the Open 2 is a massive win for Samsung

The OnePlus Open was a revelation; the sleek design, terrific camera package, and standout battery life meant that the device was a viable alternative to Samsung's foldable efforts. Even though OnePlus didn't launch a successor in 2024, the Open held up incredibly well against the Galaxy Z Fold 6 — which tells you a lot about Samsung's strategy.

I was excited for the Open 2, but the foldable has been put on ice — indefinitely. OnePlus announced on its forums that it will not launch a foldable this year, with OPPO instead taking the lead with the Find N5. "At OnePlus, our core strength and passion lie in setting new benchmarks and challenging the status quo across all product categories. With that in mind, we’ve carefully considered the timing and our next steps in foldable devices, and we have made the decision not to release a foldable this year."

OnePlus says it isn't exiting the category entirely, but even if it were to launch a device next year, it would effectively have to start from scratch, and I don't understand why the manufacturer isn't debuting the Find N5 in global markets as the Open 2. This is what it did with the Open — which was a rebranded Find N3 — so to not do the same in 2025 feels short-sighted.

OnePlus is basically ceding ground to Samsung in this category, and with the Open 2 not launching this year, there isn't a meaningful rival to the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7 outside the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I really like the Honor Magic V3 and Vivo's X Fold3, but neither foldable is available in North America. Availability in the region was what gave the Open a distinct advantage, and OnePlus is losing out on that this time.

OPPO has good presence in Asia and is once again starting to sell its products in select western markets, but it doesn't have a foothold in North America — the region was seen as OnePlus's territory within the BBK conglomerate. While I'm excited to use the Find N5 — it promises to be the thinnest foldable yet — it won't be sold in anywhere as many regions, and that's annoying.

OnePlus's strategy just doesn't make any sense to me. Obviously, the Open wouldn't have sold in nearly as many numbers as the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus 12, but it built a strong foundation for the manufacturer, and to not expand on that is the wrong move. If anything, the Open 2 was set to be the biggest challenger to Samsung's dominance in North America, and as the device isn't launching now, there's even less incentive for the brand to introduce any meaningful changes with the Z Fold 7.