Microsoft Kin, the social phone that was targeted at the teen market is no more. Microsoft has pulled the plug on the Kin project, sources
from Microsoft and Gizmodo report. In the most shortest time possible, just six weeks after its launch Kin has been discontinued which startled many analysts and consumers who had bought the phone.
There were initial speculations that there would be an upgrade, a better Kin product but Microsoft has said that there won’t be another Kin anymore. The Kin development team has been moved to work on the core Windows Phone 7 team. Microsoft seems to be putting all its bets on the Windows phone 7 to be a huge success. Looks like getting the teens to buy this phone was harder than they expected it to be!
The only major reason for killing the Kin is its performance in the market. It was reported that only 500 kins were sold! Microsoft’s market prediction and expectation fell way short and in a quick and swift response the Kin was killed before more resources were spent on it.
Another reason for Kin’s failure was the price. The phone was priced as a smartphone even though it did not fill in the definition of a smart phone. Not to forget that Kin’s advertising and marketing campaign was far from good.
Microsoft will continue to support those users who have bought the Kin but there might not be any future software updates.
Microsoft’s only official statement was, “We have made the decision to focus on our Windows Phone 7 launch and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones.”
This incident might make the market loose confidence in Microsoft phone offerings considering how volatile its ideas and products might be. Microsoft will really have to put their Windows phone 7 into the spot light with better features than the iPhone to even get a proper reception.
[…] It won’t be surprising that once the phone and the OS are released, Apple and Google will quickly incorporate them into their OS. But lets just hope this one does not die a sudden death like the Microsoft Kin! […]
[…] This is the second time this year that a major technology firm shelved its ambitious product. Lets not forget Microsoft did the same to Microsoft Kin! […]