Fans of the 2017 Essential Phone are few and far between, but they’re definitely out there. That’s why today’s news will be a little upsetting at least to some people.
As first spotted by Droid-Life, Essential’s first smartphone has begun going out of stock at a variety of retailers, including Essential’s own store. As it turns out, the phone is being discontinued, something we learned in a statement initially given to 9to5Google by an Essential spokesperson.
We are sold out of Essential Phone on essential.com and won’t be adding any new inventory. We are now hard at work on our next mobile product and will continue to sell accessories and provide speedy software updates and customer support to our existing community.
Notably, the quote above confirms the Essential Phone’s departure from the smartphone market and hints at a new “mobile product” from the Andy Rubin-founded company. So far, we’ve heard the company is probably working on a new AI-driven phone that’s meant to automate tasks on your behalf. More evidence of this sprung when the company acquired Newton Mail’s parent company. But nothing’s set in stone yet, leaving lots of head room for virtually anything to happen in the future.
In the mean time, people aren’t gonna be able to buy the Essential Phone from now on once inventory runs out. Luckily, the same speedy software update experience users love will stick around, and so will the accessories like the recently-introduced headphone adapter.Still, though, it’s always a shame to see something die off, and we here at Matridox are pouring one out for the Essential PH-1. The company didn’t sell very many, but it certainly tried.
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