OnePlus founder Carl Pei bought the Essential brand
When years ago, the creator of the Android operating system, Andy Rubin, announced the establishment of his company Essential, so he probably had no idea what a failure it would be. Her only Essential Phone PH-1 smartphone was a sales loser, and despite reports of new devices being planned, the manufacturer announced the end last year. Surprisingly, the brand has now been bought by the company’s co-founder OnePlus Carl Pei.
The promising project failed
The Essential Phone PH-1 smartphone wasn’t really a bad project. It had a unique design, plug-in modules similar to Motorola Moto Mods and a cut-out in the display for a selfie camera before the Apple iPhone X. Reviewers blamed it for the absence of water resistance or wireless charging, but the main downside was delayed delivery of pre-ordered smartphones.
The result was several hundred thousand units sold, which fell far short of investor expectations. However, those who bought a smartphone certainly could not complain about its software support. For three years, the Essential Phone PH-1 received a new version of the system on the same day as the Google Pixel models.
Despite the fact that the company still promised new projects and even showed a prototype of the Project GEM device with a narrow display and a modified Android, it finally announced the end a year ago. This week, however, information emerged that OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei is buying the Essential brand. He finally confirmed this on his twitter account.
Yes, the rumors are true, we’ve acquired Essential’s trademarks. Today, we are all in on Nothing, and don’t have anything to share at the moment regarding our plans with Essential.
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) February 17, 2021
Will the new company Nothing use Essential brand technologies?
Carl Pei only recently surprised by founding a mysterious company Nothing. All we know about it so far is that it has to stand behind the new wireless headphones and in the future it wants to present the entire ecosystem of interconnected devices. Another surprise is that the Essential brand was bought by the co-founder of OnePlus on January 6.
Unfortunately, Carl Pei did not specify the reason for the purchase and did not reveal any new news. However, patents for technology and the development team can be used by Nothing in its future facilities. At the same time, other intellectual property of the company (logo, trademark and others) was bought, but the new company will probably not use it. The Essential brand has not created much awareness among customers.
