The founder of the Android Operating System, Andy Rubin, has been making plenty of headlines in the past few weeks with his latest ventures, which come in the form of the company Essential Products, which set up operations back in November of 2015. The company is releasing a couple of new products, with their main device being a smartphone dubbed the Essential Phone.
The phone has turned plenty of heads with its unique look and interesting take on hardware features. The main attraction here is the front display, covering nearly all of the front of the phone and leaving room only for a camera in the middle of the status bar. Aside from the unfortunate lack of a headphone jack, the phone does come with magnetic connectors on the rear of the titanium constructed frame, allowing for the addition of accessories such as a compact 360 degree camera. And as a special feature for us tinkerers, the Essential Phone will also launch with an unlockable bootloader.
While all of these features sound alluring, there is a catch when attempting to obtain this device. So far, outside of buying an unlocked device online, it has been announced that the Essential Phone will only be coming to Sprint on contract in the United States. This has unfortunately hurt a lot of the hype surrounding the Essential Phone, as carrier exclusivity has historically been shown to hurt device sales and lower surrounding anticipation or hype, even if applied “partially” as seen with the Essential and last year’s Pixel phones. Additionally, the fact that the exclusive carrier isn’t even one of the top two or three subscribed carriers in the US means that a lack of sales could potentially harm Essential from being able to maximize its market presence. After all, Google’s Pixel flagships had a similar deal with Verizon and there’s no indication they managed to sell above expectations.
However, Canadian carrier Telus announced on their twitter page this morning that they will be the exclusive retailer for the Essential Phone in Canada. Telus may not be in the top two market in its respective country either, but their first quarterly report for 2017 shows that they do hold 28.0% of the Canadian market, which is twice the proportion that Sprint holds in the US market at 14%.
This isn’t the first time we’ve witnessed devices being launched as carrier exclusives Much like the Google Pixel, Essential Products will be selling the Essential Phone unlocked, and the phone is reported as having enough radios to support most major carriers in the US.
What are your thoughts on the Essential Phone’s Carrier Exclusivity deals? Do you think the device will find its way to more carrier stores? Let us know in the comments section below.
Source: TELUS
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