If you want to compete with the big boys, you can’t just step into the ring and think you’re going to knock them out. New kid on the block, the Essential Phone, learned this the hard way, with the company now slashing the price on the device by $200. It brings the PH-1 smartphone down to $499, which seems more than decent for this titanium phone with 5.7” QHD screen, dual lenses and 128 GB storage space.

That is, unfortunately, only if you find yourself Stateside, since the Essential phone has not made it to these shores, nor does it seem likely that it will. In comparison, in the US the Google Pixel 2 retails for $649 and the iPhone 8 goes for $699.

So what about the folks that purchased the Essential phone for its original $699 price? Apart from being obviously miffed, they do receive $200 “friends and family” credit to spend on another phone or Essentials 360-camera.

TechCrunch reports Essential believes that in a market dominated by Apple and Samsung, they will benefit from word of mouth and offering good value for customers, hence the drop in price. In the same breath, TechCrunch also states that not so great sales figures might also be responsible.