Essential Inc., the makers of the Essential Phone PH-1, has strategically decided to cut the price of its first and only smartphone by $200, effectively making it $499 for new buyers. Existing buyers are being offered a $200 discount on their second phone or an Essential 360 Camera, the add-on or “mod” that magnetically attaches to the smartphone.
In a blog post making the announcement, Essential’s president Niccolo De Masi said that it was a choice between an expensive ad campaign and a chance to make the phone “easier for people to get their hands on.”
A spokesman for Essential later said:
“We’ve heard from many people that once they got their hands on an Essential Phone they were hooked by the device’s unique look and feel… it was a strategic decision to invest in bold pricing to get our products into more hands instead of traditional marketing such as TV to generate awareness and word of mouth.”
The Essential Phone PH-1 has had its share of teething problems, such as glitchy camera software (updated since then) and one source even saying that it failed their drop test despite the company’s claim that the titanium and ceramic finish doesn’t require additional protection in the form of a case. But on the whole, it’s a great-looking phone, and it definitely feels different from other phones when you hold it in your hand. The bezel-less experience plays out nicely, and there haven’t been major complaints about any aspect of the phone.
The only problem, from a marketing perspective, is the perception of consumers when they see a sudden price drop mere months after the launch. If this were an introductory price of sorts that was promoted before pre-orders were opened, it might have had a much more powerful effect on the audience. But now that all of 2017’s flagships have been revealed, people are likely to have already opted for an iPhone 8, considering that the base model iPhone 8 is priced exactly the same as Essential’s PH-1 – $699.
Is a $200 discount on the PH-1 really going to work at this point? It might, considering the attention that Andy Rubin has gotten in the media so far. His “star” status as the founder of Android Inc. should definitely deliver some kind of mileage. But is that enough for their first phone to be a success by any measure?
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