07.01.10
KIN is Dead, Zune May Naturally Jump the Shark Next
Summary: Now that Microsoft abandons “KIN” (just weeks after its official launch) the investment in Zune code makes less sense and there may be a chain reaction
A FEW days ago we made a picture of a drowning ship bearing the word "KIN". How prophetic that must have been. Only a day or two later it turned out that “KIN” joins the long list of dead products from Microsoft. Watch out for the domino effect because now is a good time to put Zune to sleep. “KIN” (project Pink* or “Zune phone”) gave Zune some reason to exist, but that plan is no more. “Microsoft Kills Kin,” reveals Gizmodo.
Just six weeks after launch, Microsoft’s Kin, the social phone we wanted to love, is dead. Microsoft is ending its short life, sources close to Microsoft tell us.
Microsoft’s boosters confirm this. Neowin, a Microsoft proponents site, does too.
Disappointing sales have led Microsoft to cancel its Kin mobile phone initiative a little more than a month after the company launched the devices, according to sources close to the company.
David Gerard writes enthusiastically: “Over 500 sold! Maybe!” Gerard refers to rumoured numbers that Microsoft never bothered to refute. “Microsoft has neither confirmed nor denied reports that only 500 of the Kins were sold since the launch last month,” says the news. In IRC, Ryan Farmer says: “Wow, that’s $1 million a phone [because Microsoft bought Danger for $500 million], but at least they got $50 back from each one.” He quotes: “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…”
Ryan translates that to: “Dear investors, we didn’t waste your money, we recycled it!”
“Wow, that’s $1 million a phone, but at least they got $50 back from each one.”
–Ryan FarmerWe’ll study this whole story over the weekend and post more findings shall they arise.
“KIN” is just one example of why Microsoft is falling apart, as we pointed out on Tuesday. Windows Mobile has branched off into too many paths. Microsoft’s fragmented portfolio in the mobile space [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] happens to be similar to Microsoft’s endless redesign and rebranding of its so-called ‘search engine’ which it uses to deceive people.
“According to Statcounter,” wrote Ryan last night. “Bing only brought MSN/Live Search from 3.25% market share since the rebranding to 3.75% as of this month. That’s a lot of money to maybe have brought Google down half a percent.”
Microsoft has been spending (wasting) billions of dollars on it and it is also paying comScore [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10], which then shows a load of garbage (US-only figures that contradict ones from firms not paid by Microsoft).
Ryan concludes this with the question: “How do you tell your investors you spent $1 billion in rebranding, development, and bribes to gain a half a percent on your competitor?” █
_____
* “The Kin devices were the result of extensive development under the code name “Project Pink,” and based in part on technologies acquired by Microsoft in its $500 million purchase of Danger Inc,” says the news.
