Carl Pei, the founder of Nothing, announced on Tuesday via a tweet that the company will increase the price of its first product, ear (1) to $149 from $99 “due to an increase in costs” from October 26.
“Ear (1) was our inaugural product that will always have a special place in my heart. With almost 600k units sold, this product proved our team's capability to the world and enabled us to leap forward with Phone (1),” Pei added.
Ear (1) was our inaugural product that will always have a special place in my heart. With almost 600k units sold, this product proved our team's capability to the world and enabled us to leap forward with Phone (1).
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) October 18, 2022
The ear (1) was launched in India for Rs 5,999 in July 2021 and is now retailing on Flipkart for as low as Rs 7,299 (in white). Consumers are already disappointed by the announcement.
It's already overprice now it's too costly
— Guiding Tongper (@DrGuiding) October 18, 2022
You have already increased in India too much.
— Sanjay Sharma (@sharmasanjay00) October 18, 2022
Some are even hinting that this could be because the ear (stick) — which comes out on the same day — was priced similarly.
Out of curiosity, does it have anything to do with ear (stick) coming out soon, and the targeted price was too close to ear (1) ?
— val (@Val3Ball) October 18, 2022
Others suggest that this could be a stock-clearing strategy.
To sell out left out ear 1s
— loki (@MSuryaTeja19) October 18, 2022
In an attempt to justify the move, Pei said that the ear (1) is now a completely different product from when it launched, given the multiple updates that it has received over time.
When we started developing it, we only had 3 engineers. A year later, we have 185. During this time, the Ear (1) has received 15 firmware and tuning updates, and is a completely different product to when we launched it.
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) October 18, 2022
What the exact selling price will be in India is still unclear.
This is not the first time the company is hiking the price of its products. In August, the company also raised the price of its phone (1), owing to economic factors such as "fluctuating currency exchange rates and rising component costs".
For a company like Nothing, it made sense at the time to launch innovative and “fun” products at a base price to provide quality to consumers and make a place for themselves in the market. Now, that the company is starting to establish itself and the team is growing, so will the margin on products (because how else do you make profits) and ultimately the selling cost.
The world has tasted Nothing and from what it seems, it clearly wants more of it. Even after all the price hikes and unkept promises, we are still here and still excited for the ear (stick) reveal next week, and that, I think, speaks for itself.
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