"Business as usual": OnePlus tells T3 that your phone is safe – as for future devices...

A day can feel like an lifetime in the world of tech, and for OnePlus is must have seemed like it'd never end.

Rumours started flying around yesterday after a report online suggested the company was being shuttered by parent brand Oppo, but by the end of the day, the OnePlus team made it abundantly clear that it was "business as usual".

It started with Android Headlines claiming that OnePlus is no more. It wrote (with the help of AI, it admitted afterwards) that the brand was being "dismantled", new phones "scrapped" and international offices closed down.

However, several hours later, OnePlus hit back. Echoing comments made by OnePlus India and OnePlus North America, OnePlus Europe sent a statement to T3 to calm fans' fears: "Existing business operations for OnePlus Europe continue to proceed as normal," a spokesperson told us.

"All users' after-sales support, software updates, and rights commitments are fully guaranteed."

That effectively means that the brand will continue in multiple regions, and your existing OnePlus phone (with the OnePlus 15R being the most recent) will be safe. You will receive ongoing updates and support.

Where it stops short is guaranteeing future devices. That's less certain, for now.

Will there be future OnePlus phone releases?

Sadly, we don't yet know whether there will be additional OnePlus handsets in future.

Recently speculation suggested the long-awaited OnePlus Open 2 – a follow-up to one of the best foldable phones we've seen – has been cancelled for the second time. That's not been confirmed, but did come from a leaker with a good track record (Yogesh Brar).

We've also not heard about any other OnePlus phone in development, although back in December, it was reported that the brand was looking into gaming phones.

Maybe this is how Oppo sees the future for OnePlus – as a big competitor to RedMagic. After all, while the OnePlus brand is better recognised in the UK, Europe and the US, Oppo phones are gradually making inroads (and feature nigh-on identical tech).

But with Asus having recently announced its withdrawal from the phone market altogether, there's a gap for a new gaming phone brand to fit right in.

Whatever happens, let's hope this isn't the end of OnePlus entirely. And shame on those who seemingly revelled in reporting that it was.