Essential Products

Essential Products Inc.
Private
Industry Technology
Founded November 9, 2015 (2015-11-09)
Founders
Headquarters 380 Portage Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306, US[3]
Key people
 Niccolo De Masi (president and chief operating officer)[4]
Products Essential Phone
Essential Home
Number of employees
 ~100[4]
Website www.essential.com

Essential Products (marketed as Essential) is an American technology company and manufacturer founded on November 9, 2015 by Andy Rubin and based in Palo Alto. The company is currently developing two products, the Android smartphone Essential Phone and Essential Home, which runs Ambient OS.

On May 25, 2018, the company cancelled its next flagship and was reported to be for sale.[5][6]

History

Andy Rubin, the founder of Essential

The company was established in Palo Alto on November 9, 2015 by Android co-founder Andy Rubin, with funding from Playground Global.[2][3] In December 2016, Brian Wallace, who left his occupation as chief marketing officer for Magic Leap a month prior, was reportedly working with Rubin.[7] Trademarks with the 'Essential' brand name were also filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office that same month.[8]

In January 2017, it was reported that the new company was planning to unofficially reveal a smartphone.[9] In March, Rubin released an image that teased the unannounced smartphone on his Twitter account.[10] On May 25, the company teased a second image of the smartphone on its Twitter account.[11] On May 30, the company announced both the smartphone, dubbed the Essential Phone, and its smart speaker, Essential Home.[12]

In August 2017, it was reported that Amazon, Tencent and Foxconn have invested in Essential Products.[13][14]

In August 2017, the company was valued as a unicorn.[15]

Products

Essential Phone

The Essential Phone in "ocean depths" colour

An Android smartphone.[16]

Essential Home

The Essential Home is a smart speaker and smart home hub running an Essential-designed operating system, named Ambient OS.[17][18] The device was planned for a launch in late 2017 but has yet to release.[19][20][21][22][23][24]

References

  1. ↑ Gurman, Mark; Bergen, Mark (13 January 2017). "Andy Rubin Nears His Comeback, Complete With an 'Essential' Phone". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Essential | About Us". Essential. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Results Detail". businessfilings.sos.ca.gov. 11 February 2016. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  4. 1 2 Balakrishnan, Anita (30 May 2017). "Essential phone: Interview with Niccolo De Masi". CNBC. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  5. ↑ Android Creator Puts Essential Up for Sale, Cancels Next Phone - Bloomberg
  6. ↑ Windsor, Richard (June 17, 2018). "Essential Phone On Amazon Is Another Signal That End Is Close For Essential Products Inc". Forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  7. ↑ Glaser, Andy (2 December 2016). "Magic Leap's former marketing chief is leaving to work with Andy Rubin". Recode. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  8. ↑ Welch, Chris (13 January 2017). "Android's co-founder is building a new company and a new kind of smartphone". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2017-06-12. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  9. ↑ Gurman, Mike; Bergen, Mike (13 January 2017). "Andy Rubin Nears His Comeback, Complete With an 'Essential' Phone". Bloomberg Technology. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  10. ↑ Andy Rubin [@Arubin] (27 March 2017). "I'm really excited about how this is shaping up. Eager to get it in more people's hands..." (Tweet). Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017 – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ Essential [@essential] (25 May 2017). "We heard you @renan_batista - here's something to hold you over until next week:" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017 – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Lee, Seung (30 May 2017). "Andy Rubin announces his new Essential smartphone to compete with the iPhone". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on 2017-05-30. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  13. ↑ "Essential Phones Get $300 Million Boost from Amazon, Tencent Holdings - TechStory". TechStory. 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  14. ↑ Lynch, Doug (10 August 2017). "Essential Products Receives Funding from Amazon and Tencent". xda-developers. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Andy Rubin's Essential is now valued at over a billion dollars without shipping a single phone". The Verge. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  16. ↑ Bohn, Dieter (30 May 2017). "Exclusive: this is the Essential Phone". The Verge. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  17. ↑ "Android inventor's Echo competitor will choreograph your home". CNET. CBS Interactive. 30 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-05-30. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  18. ↑ Patel, Nilay (30 May 2017). "This is the new Ambient OS, Essential's big bet to control your home". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 2017-05-30. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  19. ↑ Haselton, Todd (30 May 2017). "The inventor of Android is launching an Amazon Echo competitor". CNBC. NBCUniversal. Archived from the original on 2017-05-30. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  20. ↑ Schoon, Ben (30 May 2017). "Essential Home is a proactive home assistant that focuses on privacy (but still watches you)". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on 2017-08-05. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  21. ↑ Lobo, Freia (30 May 2017). "Andy Rubin's new smart assistant wants to control your home". Mashable. Archived from the original on 2017-06-09. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  22. ↑ Heater, Brian (30 May 2017). "Will Essential Home be more than another dumb smart home hub?". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on 2017-05-31. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  23. ↑ Patel, Nilay (30 May 2017). "This is the new Ambient OS, Essential's big bet to control your home". The Verge. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  24. ↑ "Andy Rubin, creator of Android, debuts his new Essential Phone | Code 2017". Recode. Hosted by Walt Mossberg. Archived from the original on 2017-05-31.
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