Android's creator Andy Rubin launched his first smartphone named Essential Phone last year amidst much hype and excitement. But six months since then, it seems like the stock Android-running flagship has not been able to attract many buyers. As per a tweet from IDC research director Francisco Jeronimo, Essential managed to ship only 88,000 units within the first six months of release.

. @Arubin's @essential smartphone is still a long way from becoming a successful venture. In 2017, it shipped less than 90K units (first six months after launch) pic.twitter.com/NHVlA2Gjzr

— Francisco Jeronimo (@fjeronimo) February 12, 2018

Essential is a tech-startup which aims to disrupt the smartphone market by offering the software experience Rubin believes a smartphone should offer. While no one was actually hoping it to ship Essential Phone in huge numbers, the latest data of 88,000 units is quite low. These numbers appear to be even worse if you consider the hype around the device because of Rubin's reputation and repetitive price cuts that the company has announced so far.

Both Rubin and Essential are yet to comment anything on the sales numbers and to share their thoughts on below-par performance from the device. At the moment, the company is busy working on Android 8.1 Oreo update for the device. The latest update for the smartphone brought improvements to the camera and added auto HDR mode.

• 5.71-inch Quad HD+ LTPS IPS LCD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5
• 2.45GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8345 processor
• 4GB RAM
• 128GB internal storage
• Dual 13-megapixel with f/1.9 aperture, phase detection and laser autofocus, and dual-LED flash
• 8-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture
• 3040mAh battery with fast charging
• Android 7.1 Nougat