Qualcomm leaves out OnePlus 8 series from Snapdragon 865 list: What does it mean

Qualcomm Technologies announced its list of OEMs (original equipment makers) and brands that will be coming out with its latest flagship Snapdragon 865 chipset. According to the chipmaker, ASUS, Black Shark, Fujitsu Connected Technologies Limited, iQOO, Lenovo, Nubia, Oppo, Realme, Redmi, Samsung, Sharp Corporation, Sony, Vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE have selected the new SD 865 5G Mobile Platform for their 5G device launches of the year.

A number of these brands and OEMs have already announced their flagship smartphones that will be powered by the Snapdragon 865 processor. These phones are also present in Qualcomm's list of Snapdragon 865-powered phones for the year 2020. However, the crucial bit from the list is the complete absence of OnePlus.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 list leaves out OnePlus 8, 8 Pro

OnePlus is usually among the first ones to announce the arrival of its flagship powered by the latest Qualcomm processor. However, since OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are absent from the Qualcomm's list of phones that will come with Snapdragon 865 processor, there have been rumours around the upcoming OnePlus flagships will not come with the Qualcomm chipset.

There have been some wild speculations among fans that the OnePlus 8 lineup could be powered by a chip from some other manufacturer, like MediaTek.

Why fans shouldn't worry

While it is fair to draw conclusions from the Qualcomm's list, it is highly unlikely that OnePlus will come without a Snapdragon 865 chipset. All of the OnePlus devices that have been launched since the brand's inception have always come with the latest flagship processor from Qualcomm. So, it doesn't make sense for the brand to part ways with the chipmaker, especially when the launch of its next flagship is just around the corner.

There's a high chance that OnePlus deliberately skipped out of the list in order to avoid early confirmation. The brand usually controls the narrative around the teasers of its upcoming smartphones.

We've reached out to both companies for clarification. We will update the article once we hear from them.