A few years ago, smartphone brand Essential made all the headlines in the market, thanks to its leader Andy Rubin. A new report now claims that Essential is now owned by Carl Pei's new venture Nothing. Yes, you read it right; Nothing, which already confirmed to launch to launch wireless audio products in the near future, may enter the smartphone market as well. 9to5Google managed to find some filings at UK Intellectual Property Office which confirmed that Essential is now a property of Nothing Technologies. Essential is a US-based firm that announced PH-1 as its first smartphone in 2017, followed by a new project called 'Project Gem' which never made its way into the market. Before its shut down, Essential was also said to be working on smart home products like a smart bulb.
Nothing Technologies Now Owns Andy Rubin's Essential
Essential launched its first smartphone in 2017, dubbed the Essential PH-1. The company, later on, teased a candy bar style phone as part of Project Gem. 9to5Google reports that Andy Rubin has sold off its Essential company to Nothing Technologies. Essential had some plans of launching smart home devices such as a smart speaker and smart bulb with Ambient OS, but they never saw the light of the day.
Nothing Technologies recently said it would launch wireless earbuds very soon along with a 'wider focus' on smart home technology in the future. Both Essential and Nothing Technologies seem to share a similar strategy, but the latter is yet to confirm its venture into the smartphone market.
At the moment, it is unknown what Nothing Technologies is up to, but we can expect it to enter the smartphone market in the coming years. Last week, Nothing managed to raise $15 million in Series A funding led by GV (Google Ventures). The company is expected to unveil another investor later today, at least that's what the tweets from Nothing's official Twitter handle suggests.
