It has been over a year since the launch of the Essential Phone and to say that the company has had it rough would be an understatement. Despite being backed by Android co-founder Andy Rubin, the firm has faltered numerous times during the promotion of its phone, which has led to relatively lukewarm sales. Now, it is being reported that the firm is downsizing, releasing around 30 percent of its staff.
The staff reduction comes across all areas of the company, including its hardware, marketing, and sales teams. An Essential spokesperson had this to say about the layoffs:
This has been a difficult decision to make. We are very sorry for the impact on our colleagues who are leaving the company and are doing everything we can to help them with their future careers. We are confident that our sharpened product focus will help us deliver a truly game changing consumer product.
Despite its phone not selling, in the past several months, the firm has done well to make up for its early transgressions, delivering speedy updates to the PH-1, even being one of the first to update to Android 9.0 Pie. While the Essential PH-1 will never go down in history as a truly loved handset with accolades, if rumors are correct, there is a chance that its successor could.
Source: Bloomberg