OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei has confirmed his exit from the popular Android smartphone maker.
In a post in the official OnePlus forums, Pei says that he's "made the difficult decision to say goodbye" to OnePlus after spending nearly seven years at the company. He also thanks his OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau for "taking a chance in this kid without a college degree, with nothing to his name but a dream."
Pei doesn't explain why he's leaving the company he helped found nor does he say what his next professional move might be. He does say that after spending the past several years focusing on OnePlus, he'll be taking some time off to decompress and spend time with loved ones.
"I’ve never regretted trusting my gut feeling, and this time it’s no different," Pei says in his post. "These past years, OnePlus has been my singular focus, and everything else has had to take a backseat. I’m looking forward to taking some time off to decompress and catch up with my family and friends. And then follow my heart on to what’s next."
Rumors earlier this week said that Pei is starting his own venture, but there's been no word on what that might be or even if it's mobile related. Pei helped to found OnePlus in 2013 and helped to turn it into a major player in the smartphone market in the following years, using an invitation system to help build hype for new phones and more recently playing a big role in the aggressively-priced OnePlus Nord. Because of all that, there will be a lot of interest in seeing what Pei's next effort will be.