Essential PH-1 discontinued, company reportedly working on its next mobile product

Key Highlights: The Essential Phone is now out of stock across multiple retail locations A company spokesperson said the phone will not be restocked, indicating it is now discontinued Essential is now working hard on its next mobile product and will continue to support the PH-1 with regular updates and accessories   The Essential Phone (or PH-1) may have seen the last light of the day. The “modular” smartphone created by Android co-founder Andy Rubin is now out of stock on its website, and according to the company, it won’t be restocked. The PH-1 came with flagship hardware, regular updates and was the first phone to sport a notch. However, it often found itself painted negatively in the news what with delayed availability, job cuts and more. Eventually, it had to be heavily discounted to ensure the inventories are cleared.   It was noticed earlier that the PH-1 was out of stock across multiple retail locations including the company’s own website. There was also a recent Fire Sale where the 128GB storage variant of the phone was offered at $340, a sharp $160 fall from its regular $500 price. Many presumed this was done to clear remaining inventories. Now, the company has confirmed the phone will not be restocked. Instead, Essential will be working on the “next mobile product”. However, the PH-1 will continue to be supported by regular updates and accessories. “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,” an Essential spokesperson told 9to5Google. The fact that the Essential phone is being retired shouldn’t come as much of a shock. The phone which failed to come to India in its lifetime, was shrouded in controversies. Many complained it’s minimalist take on Android wasn’t enough. The phone was also mired with a lot of bugs. However, the company did continue to support the phone with regular updates with the PH-1 becoming one of the first phones to receive the update to Android 9 Pie. It’s also unclear as to what the “next mobile product” will be from Essential. There have been some rumours about an AI-phone from the company. The company recently acquired CloudMagic, which might allow the upcoming phone to intelligently respond to texts and emails on behalf of the user.   Related Links: Essential PH-1 successor to come with an improved camera Essential Phone against competition: What's Andy Rubin's phone about? Essential Phone could soon launch in India as an Amazon exclusive smartphone at Rs 24,999: Report  

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