A Constant Drive

Pete Lau, the Founder and Chief Executive of OnePlus is calm, eff icient and determined to give people the best smartphone they can have. He’s only just getting started, it would seem.

- Varun Sarin

Passion for perfection. One of the things that sets visionaries and achievers apart from others. It is this passion that makes them keep at something they believe will change the world, or change the lives of people, or simply make them and their environments better. It’s not easy and the chance of success is small, but they continue to work on the ideal. That’s also how Pete Lau views his work, and it seems he’s on a mission to do all of these things.

How is it that OnePlus, the technology company Lau founded and runs as CEO, has become a bona fide contender in the cutthroat premium smartphones market? Much of it has to do with the 43-year-old’s belief that he’s out to offer the best possible device experience there can be—and not just limit himself or his company to specs and price wars.

OnePlus, founded in late 2013, has been called the disrupter, the challenger, taking on the likes of Apple, Samsung and Huawei on their turf, and still managing to carve a distinct identity for itself. Paul Nunes and Larry Downes wrote in the U.S. edition of Forbes magazine in 2015, “OnePlus clearly represents the ‘Big Bang’ phenomenon: a company launched with a product that is better, cheaper and more closely tailored to what customers want than anything offered by competitors.” An apt synopsis, but it doesn’t capture the depth of OnePlus’ consumer-centric approach. The company and its smartphones have a very vocal community that supports them, as OnePlus continues to produce polished devices.