Andre Yoskowitz
30 Jun 2010 18:57
Microsoft has confirmed today that they are pulling the plug on the Kin One and Kin Two smartphones, after sales fell well below expectations.
Additionally, the Kin phones will not make it to Europe as promised, and the entire Kin team has been moved over to the company's Windows Phone 7 division.
Says Microsoft: "We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 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."
Pulling the plug is a glaring admission of failure from the Microsoft team, which released the phone just two months ago, after almost two years of development.
The Kin series failed for many reasons, but the main factor was price. For low-end smartphones aimed at teenagers, Microsoft and Verizon still forced consumers to buy a $70 mandatory voice+data+texting plan. For the same price, you could have a top-end Android device, or head to AT&T for an iPhone.
Sources from within Microsoft say Verizon sold over 1000 devices since launch, but under 10,000, with many believing that number is around 2500.