OnePlus says it’s temporarily halting European sales to meet increased demand

Say what you will about OnePlus’ now-defunct invite system — it certainly helped the company control its supplies and gauge demand. The launch of the OnePlus 3 marked a brave new, invite-free world — one that’s apparently come with a few growing pains as the company works to meet demand.

Co-founder Carl Pei took to the company’s forums to announce that it will be halting sales of the device throughout Europe for four days, in order to deal with what has proven to be “the fastest selling device we’ve ever made.”

From August 9-12, the company will be putting the kibosh on sales in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain – and Hong Kong, for good measure.

So, why hating, rather than simply delaying shipping? Aside from an opportunity to point out the brisk pace with which the solid new handset is moving, Pei had this to say, “We are working hard to secure more stock and fire up more production lines so that we can fulfill our goal of putting premium products into the hands of as many people as possible.”

Those who order before the August 9 should be fine. People who attempt to purchase during the hiatus will be nudged toward a mailing list for updates.