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Less than 90,000 Essential Phones were sold in the company’s first few months

Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone launched in the latter half of 2017 with a lot of hype behind it, but it proved to struggle in some major ways. While the company has made major improvements since the phone’s debut, it hasn’t exactly translated into sales, as new numbers may prove to be disappointing.

According to a report from the IDC, Essential has sold less than 90,000 units of the PH-1 smartphone. IDC research director Francisco Jeronimo revealed that news earlier today, showing around 88,000 sales since the phone launched in July of last year through the end of 2017. Even for just a few months on the market, those have to be disheartening to the company.

Obviously, nobody expected Essential to sell sell millions of phones to compete with the likes of Apple or Samsung, but many thought that the fresh design and software promises would get a bit more attention. Sadly, the Essential Phone’s poor camera and high price tag back at launch probably ruined its chances to compete with the likes of HTC, Google, or OnePlus.

One would think that Essential’s massive price cuts, which basically halved the cost of the phone, as well as the continuous camera improvements would help matters, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Hopefully, we’ll see something better in the company’s second-generation product, as it would be a shame to see such amazing hardware and expertise behind the scenes fail.


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