Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus has managed to sell 500,000 of its devices since April, but that isn’t close to the company’s goal for the end of the year.
The hope for OnePlus is to sell one million devices by the end of 2014, and the company has less than two months to meet that number, according to CNET. Accessories and software are the main tools OnePlus plans to use to meet this goal.
The only way customers can buy OnePlus' products at the moment is online, and they have to receive an invitation through the company's contests or if they currently own the OnePlus One phone or other company devices. While this tactic has a negative effect on demand, limited offers have so far benefited OnePlus's business.
Carl Pei, co-founder and director of OnePlus, said there is an increase in shipment of OnePlus products, despite it being difficult for the company to generate a profit with its current sales strategy, which is less dependent on unit sales, CNET reported.
"That's not the way we're going to make money in the future," Pei said. "It's just to keep the operation going."
The phone maker's pre-order system may come in handy for meeting the one million goal for the end of the year. Customers can use the system to buy phones directly, and the second round is scheduled to begin on Nov. 17th.
OnePlus has a lot of catching up to do to compete with other smartphone makers in sales, such as Xiaomi, which sold 26 million devices in only the first half of the year, and Apple, which is expected to sell 60 million iPhones in 2014's final quarter.
