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Not Many People Are Buying Andy Rubin's iPhone-Killer Essential Phone, It Seems (fiercewireless.com)

Posted by msmash on from the slow-adoption dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Essential Products has sold an estimated 5,000 phones through Sprint since the gadget made its big retail debut in the United States earlier this month, according to estimates from BayStreet Research. That figure would put Essential, whose maker became a unicorn without shipping handset, well below market heavyweights like Apple and Samsung, which typically sell tens of millions of phones per quarter in the United States. BayStreet tracks shipments of phones and other devices across the United States. Essential representatives didn't respond to requests for comment on the BayStreet estimates. BayStreet also clarified that its 5,000 figure is an estimate of Essential's sell-through (when a customer buys a product from a retailer) rather than its sell-in (when a retailer buys something from a manufacturer). Sprint is the exclusive carrier for the phone; most phones in the United States are sold through carriers. However, Essential also offers an unlocked version of its gadget. Essential, the first major startup from Android founder Andy Rubin's venture capital firm Playground, currently sells the $699 Android-powered Essential Phone through Sprint and promises to release the Essential Home smart-home hub later this year. Essential was named as one of FierceWireless' top 15 startups to watch in 2017.

16 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Not that compelling for me by JohnFen · · Score: 3, Informative

    Personally, the Essential seems like an acceptable phone, but it's also not very compelling compared to the other phones in that price range.

    If the Essential is still around when it comes time for me to replace my phone (I'm guessing that's probably 2 or 3 years away), I will certainly consider it as an option.

    1. Re:Not that compelling for me by mjwx · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Sounds like the biggest problem it has is that it's sold exclusively through carriers... specifically one carrier in one country that runs a network incompatible with the ROTW. I couldn't get one in the UK or anywhere in Europe (or Asia for that matter).

      They would have sold many more units if it were unlocked and available world wide.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    2. Re:Not that compelling for me by msauve · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "seems like an acceptable phone"

      User replaceable battery: no
      SDCard slot: no
      Headphone jack: no
      Want one: no

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    3. Re:Not that compelling for me by JohnFen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That doesn't make it "unacceptable." These things are minor.

      That depends on who's making the assessment. None of those things are "minor" to me. I don't care even a little what the mass market considers "acceptable".

    4. Re:Not that compelling for me by JohnFen · · Score: 4, Informative

      And even the best of them suck a whole lot more than having a cord plugged into the phone.

    5. Re:Not that compelling for me by JohnFen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      you're going to sound like someone who laments not having a rotary dial on a keypad phone.

      You know that you can still use rotary phones on POTS lines, right? So if that's your thing, nothing stops you from using one.

      But I would say the big difference is that touch tone phones were actually an improvement over rotary. Eliminating the headphone jack is irritating because there isn't a wireless solution that is even as good, let alone better, than the jack.

      When the day comes that wireless headphones are superior, you'd have a point -- but I'll bet that nobody will complain about the lack of a jack then.

      In the meantime, eliminating the jack is an active downgrade and deserving of condemnation.

    6. Re:Not that compelling for me by JohnFen · · Score: 2

      You can certainly get wireless earbuds that sound good -- but those aren't going to be cheap (certainly not $20!). But even they have the problem of uselessly short battery life.

  2. 1st Gen by supertall · · Score: 2

    I wouldn't want to be a beta tester for a 1st gen device with no pedigree. Maybe after a few iterations, sure.

  3. Seems to be missing some Essential features... by GenP · · Score: 4, Insightful

    * User-replaceable battery * SD card support * Non-giant (5") screen

  4. Re:Not Shocking by plague911 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah. Honestly this sounds like one of the worst product launches in recent memory. I have seen no marketing for this device. Additionally I have heard NO talk of this device anywhere but here. I cant think of anyway for launch the phone worse than they have. It is like they are trying to fail.

  5. Re:Not Shocking by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

    On top of that, releasing it right before Apple's big event is a surefire way to kill any buzz you might have managed to eke out in the general population. The moment the iPhone X hit the news circuits, the Essential phone was guaranteed to get zero additional coverage from mainstream media unless it had already built up such a huge head of steam that it couldn't be ignored. That clearly didn't happen.

  6. Re:Not Shocking by Luthair · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There is no reason for the device to exist other than Andy Rubin wants to make a phone and knows some VCs. Blah Blah IoT which is still in the future

    OnePlus at least came out with good prices

  7. Too little too late. by fred6666 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Similar pricing as the Galaxy S8. Weaker distribution channels. Unknown brand. Releases months later.
    It could compete with One Plus and other cheap brands but it's too expensive for that.

    Its main advantage is the 128 GB storage but the market for that amount of storage is too small. Especially outside of the Apple world.

    If it weren't for Andy Rubin, we wouldn't even have heard of this phone. And those who don't know who Rubin is definitely never heard about this phone to begin with.

  8. because... by argStyopa · · Score: 2

    ....the only people idiotic enough to pay a boutique phone price like an Apple, are people deeply invested in brand-identification.

    There's a reason the Volkswagen W8 bombed so spectacularly: people dumping piles of $ on anything need other people to constantly RECOGNIZE that they've done so.

    --
    -Styopa
  9. Re:My "Essential" phone definition by Streetlight · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Agree about the need for GPS. Why carry two devices when one does the trick. Ever gotten lost driving a car without a GPS or its software is out of date? A phone with Google Maps saves the day. One of our cars has a GPS system, but is out of date. The update software costs ~$180, and we don't know how up to date it is. Once we went looking for an address but when we got there the car's GPS map showed we were in the middle of nowhere with no roads. My wife as navigator with her phone and google maps got us there.

    --
    In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
  10. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion