Essential PH-1 phone was very much hyped before its debut, but the sales have been grim since then. It seems, the company has now also admitted that the sales are far from stellar, and has thus, slashed the price to push sales. Essential PH-1 is now available at a discount of $200 i.e., the new price is $499 off-contract and unlocked.
Reason for discount
With the discount, Essential, the much talked about Andy Rubin startup, has followed the footsteps of any other Android phone maker. However, given the time since launch and discount, Rubin has taken an aggressive approach to acquire customers.
Essential believes that for a new phone like the PH-1, getting a market share against top sellers like Samsung and Apple, word of mouth would play an important role. And, reducing the price can get the nascent phone there, notes TechCrunch. Irrespective of the reason of the discount, the Essential PH-1 phone surely is the best in the Android smartphone category. Initially, the camera was kind of slow and buggy, but Essential released software updates later for the camera to make it more efficient.
In a blog post, the company said, “At Essential, one of our driving principles is that premium craftsmanship and the latest technologies shouldn’t be for the few.” Further, the blog read that the company could have created a huge TV campaign to garner attention, but they chose to offer firsthand experience to customers.
Separately, a company spokesperson told CNET that customers who got firsthand experience of the phone were mesmerized by the device’s unique look and feel, and therefore, the company decided to work on pricing rather than massive television campaigns.
Essential PH-1 phone now more competitive
After making the internet go crazy with the first bezel-less look, Essential could not keep up to its promise of releasing the phone on time. As if the delay was not enough, Essential also faced criticism for leaking customer’s information. Baystreet Research, the firm that tracks the shipments of phones and other devices across the United States, estimated last month that Essential sold marginally above 5000 units on the Sprint network. True, it is not the complete picture of sales performance, but it does give a rough idea of the sales. Hopefully, the discount will make more users turn to this new brand.
The discount is available in the United States alone as of now. However, Essential has stated that the offer will be soon floated to Canada as well, not discussing the details though. Those who believed in Andy Rubin’s vision, and already bought the phone will get a $200 “friends and family” code that can be redeemed at the official store to buy a 360-degree camera or get credit toward another phone.
Customers need to register the phone with the serial number and IMEI number before Nov. 15 to avail the credit. Also, the credit will be valid till December 15, 2017.
Essential PH-1 sits on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, and after the price cut it becomes the cheapest phone to be powered by this speedy processor. The only phone that beats Essential in price and sports the same processor is OnePlus 5, but it is currently out of stock.
