Essential Products

Essential Products Inc. (marketed as Essential) was an American technology company and hardware manufacturer headquartered at 380 Portage Avenue, Palo Alto, California. It was founded on November 9, 2015 by Android co-founder Andy Rubin, with Matt Hershenson also listed as a founder, and initially funded by Playground Global. The company described itself as focused on creating consumer technology products for the 21st century and employed roughly 100 people. Niccolo De Masi served as president and chief operating officer, and Rubin served as CEO.

Essential's shipping product was the Essential Phone (PH-1), an Android handset announced on May 30, 2017 and priced at $699. It was built with titanium and ceramic, featured a full display and a dual color-and-monochrome camera system described as capable of low-light capture, and worked across carriers. The phone was sold only in the United States and Canada and was upgradable to Android 10; software and security updates ended February 3, 2020. The company also sold accessories, including a 360 Camera for the phone. Announced but never shipped were Essential Home, a smart speaker and smart home hub running an Essential-designed operating system called Ambient OS originally planned for late 2017, and Project GEM, a slimmer, largely voice-controlled second handset using AI for voice input processing, teased in an October 9, 2019 blog post.

Essential cancelled its next flagship phone on May 25, 2018 and was reported to be for sale; it also laid off 30 percent of its workforce in 2018 while announcing plans to pursue smart home products. In December 2018 (described elsewhere as early 2019) it acquired CloudMagic, Inc., developer of the Newton Mail email app, which had shut down in September 2018 and was restored after the acquisition; Newton shut down again on April 30, 2020. Essential ceased operations on February 12, 2020. Ownership of the Essential brand was subsequently transferred to Carl Pei's Nothing Technologies Limited, with the transaction completed January 6, 2021 per UK Intellectual Property Office filings, making Nothing an in-name-only successor.

Founding story

The company was founded on November 9, 2015 in Palo Alto by Andy Rubin, co-founder of the Android operating system, alongside Matt Hershenson, with initial funding from Playground Global. Rubin previously served as senior vice president of Mobile at Google, held engineering roles at Microsoft and Apple, and was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Redpoint Ventures from 2003 to 2004.

Business model

Essential designed, manufactured and sold consumer hardware directly to end users, principally the Essential Phone and its accessories, at retail prices ($699 for the phone). It also planned a connected-home device (Essential Home) running its own Ambient OS software, and briefly operated the Newton Mail email application acquired with CloudMagic.

Hardware sales of the Essential Phone ($699) and accessories to consumers.

Traction

Shipped the Essential Phone in 2017 in the US and Canada; raised $330 million in total capital and reached a reported valuation above $1 billion in August 2017; staffed roughly 100 employees. Subsequent products (Essential Home, Project GEM) never shipped.

Latest developments

Essential announced on February 12, 2020 that it was ceasing operations, cancelling the Project GEM handset because there was no clear path to deliver it to customers; Essential Phone software and security updates ended February 3, 2020 and Newton Mail shut down April 30, 2020. Ownership of the Essential brand was signed over to Carl Pei's Nothing Technologies Limited, with the transfer completed January 6, 2021 and reported publicly in 2021.