Four months after it launched the OnePlus 9 series smartphones, OnePlus admitted that it won’t be bringing the base model OnePlus 9 Pro to the U.S. or Canada. The reason? Component shortages.

“The OnePlus 9 Pro 8 GB/128 GB variant was originally set to be sold in North America for $969,” a OnePlus statement confirms. “Unfortunately, due to unforeseen supply constraints specific to North American devices, we recently concluded it is no longer possible to bring this configuration to the United States and Canada. In North America, we are prioritizing the 12 GB/256 GB version to ensure our users have access to the highest spec device.”

OnePlus announced the 9 series in late March and first shipped the handsets in the first week of April. In both cases, it highlighted the $829 starting price for the OnePlus 9 and $969 for the OnePlus 9 Pro. But that $969 model was never made available in the U.S. or Canada, with customers there forced to purchase the higher-end and more expensive $1069 variant. Now, the base model 9 Pro will never ship in those markets.

Granted, it’s a fair upgrade that should help future-proof the purchase. The $1096 model has 50 percent more RAM and double the storage of the would-be base model. And as I found in my review, the OnePlus 9 series handsets are nearly perfect.

Tagged with OnePlus, OnePlus 9 Series