OnePlus exits American retail shelves as Nothing Phone moves in to fill the void

OnePlus is fading from American retail. In October 2025, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer was discreetly withdrawn from Best Buy's physical store displays across the United States, according to research conducted by Wave7 Research. The shelf space previously occupied by OnePlus devices has since been taken over by Nothing Phone (3) and Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

The last foothold is gone

Best Buy had never been a particularly strong territory for OnePlus — the brand had never commanded significant shelf presence there. Nevertheless, it represented the final remaining outlet. The company had already lost its carrier partnerships in the United States years earlier, severing its distribution ties with T-Mobile and other major networks.

The unlocked phone section at Best Buy had thus become one of the very few places where American consumers could still walk into a shop and purchase a OnePlus handset. That option no longer exists.

A brand reconsidering its Western presence

The retreat from physical retail coincides with a broader strategic uncertainty at OnePlus. In April 2026, the company publicly stated that it was "evaluating" its future in Europe.

Weeks later, it issued an identical statement regarding North America. The implication is stark: OnePlus is seriously considering a full withdrawal from both markets.

The brand that once positioned itself as a genuine challenger to Apple and Samsung in Western markets now finds itself questioning whether it has a place in those markets at all.

How the shift was documented

Wave7 Research captured the transition through a series of physical store surveys. Photographs from October 2025 showed OnePlus devices displayed alongside Samsung, Motorola, Google Pixel, and Blu in the unlocked smartphone section — a shared area reserved for brands without their own dedicated in-store displays. Within months, OnePlus had disappeared entirely from that space.

Notably, both Samsung and Google Pixel also departed the unlocked section during this period, but for an entirely different reason — both brands earned their own branded display areas within the store. OnePlus, by contrast, simply vanished. Nothing Phone stepped in to fill the gap it left behind.