Nearly two months after OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei confirmed his exit from the popular smartphone maker that he helped build, we're finally learning more about what he's doing next.
Pei has revealed that his new startup is focused on audio and that it'll launch its first products in 2021 (via Wired). He's not revealing much more than that right now, but he did tease that his audio company will do more than just headphones. "It's so much more than that," he said.
The OnePlus co-founder actually has a bit of a history with audio. Pei was part of the leadership group that helped create OnePlus's Bullets earphones, and before helping to create OnePlus, he spent some time sourcing white-label MP3 players in China that would be sold globally.
Getting back to his new company, Pei isn't saying what it'll be called or anything like that, but he does say that he's currently got 10 employees and is currently working to hire more. The company will be based in London, but job listings show that there will be some people working in India, too.
Also of note is that Pei has raised $7 million from investors so far. There are some big names among the list of people that've invested in Pei's new company so far, including iPod inventor Tony Fadell, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, Product Hunt CEO Josh Buckley, and popular YouTuber Casey Neistat.
Finally, Pei said that he has no issues with OnePlus. "I don’t have anything against my time there. I learned a lot. I kind of grew up there. Now, in my thirties, I want to try something new," he explained, adding that he is "still in touch" with fellow co-founder and OnePlus CEO Pete Lau.
During his time at OnePlus, Pei became a popular figure in the OnePlus fan community and the smartphone world in general. And because he helped take OnePlus from new brand to one of the more popular smartphone makers around in a handful of years, there's a lot of interest in what Pei will do after leaving OnePlus. While we don't yet know much about what Pei's new company and its products, we're looking forward to seeing what he does and we're glad that we only have to wait until next year to find out more.
