Microsoft’s attempt to be hip and cool in mobile is a bust. The company has decided to stop introducing new Kin-branded phones and will scrap the device’s European launch. Instead it plans to integrate Kin into its existing Windows 7 Phone team.
It will continue Kin sales in the United States, Microsoft said in a statement.
The move comes just two months after Microsoft introduced two phones under a new brand called Kin. The devices, called Kin One and Kin Two, were built with social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter at their core. Manufactured by Sharp for Microsoft, and available exclusively on Verizon Wireless, the phones were targeted at teens and social networking addicts.
But, from the start, Kin devices seemed doomed. The phones got tepid reviews and were plagued by reports of extremely poor sales.
Here are four reasons why we think the Kin failed:
Fuzzy Kin OS Creates Confusion
Microsoft has been pouring resources into beefing up Windows Mobile and seems poised to introduce Windows Phone 7 in time for holiday season this year. But in a surprise move, Kin made its debut in April running a flavor of the new operating system.
Kin’s OS isn’t exactly Windows 7 Phone but it’s not entirely a new operating system either, Microsoft executives attempted to explain. Call it a fork in the road of Windows Phone 7, they said at launch.
Kin had features such as easy sharing and automated backup that didn’t seem part of the announced Windows Phone 7 OS. But that only confused mobile phone enthusiasts. Now Microsoft seems to realize splitting its OS brand could be a problem.
Microsoft executive Roz Ho who headed the Kin project, will “oversee” her team’s move into the Windows Phone 7 fold, and then move to another role in the company, says Engadget.
Expensive for an Incomplete Smartphone
The Kin isn’t a smartphone, but it sure had a monthly cellphone plan priced like one.
At launch, the palm-sized Kin One — which had a 2.7-inch screen — cost $50 with a two-year Verizon contract, while the Kin Two with its 3.5-inch display cost $100. A few weeks later, Verizon dropped the price on the two phones to $80 and $30 respectively.
Sounds cheap right? Not really. The fine print is in the monthly cellphone plan for the device. All Kin phones require a data plan. That means a $70 a month minimum on the bill.
For someone flipping burgers at McDonald’s for their summer job, that’s a lot of money to be handing over to a cellphone company.
If only Microsoft had offered all those social networking features on the Kin without requiring a data plan, Kin might have had a better shot at survival.
Microsoft executive Robbie Bach was confident enough to wear a pink shirt to the unveiling of the Kin, but it didn't save the phone — or his job.
No Apps, No Games
Though Kin forced a data plan on its users, they’re not really smartphones.
Kin phones have a browser and can access social networking sites through widgets. But Microsoft crippled the overall functionality of the device by not allowing apps or games on the phone.
That means users ended up paying for a smartphone but got an amped-up feature phone instead.
Consumers, even teens, are smarter than that. Many just gave the Kin a pass.
Lack of Cool Factor
Kin made a bold move into an extremely competitive cellphone market. But the devices lacked the cool factor and never really made it clear why a user would want a Kin over a Motorola Cliq or a HTC Hero.
Microsoft’s marketing of the Kin seemed to make it worse. The company focused on projecting a faux hipster vibe for the product.
Kin would be a device that would make it easy to share photos, videos and access social networking feeds, promised Microsoft’s ads.
However, almost every smartphone today can do that, and at times better than the Kin. At launch, Kin’s Twitter client, for instance, was half-baked. Users couldn’t view @ replies, search, or post photos. Similarly, Facebook features were limited to showing or posting status updates, though you could post photos.
What Microsoft failed to drive home were the truly innovative features of the phone — mainly the automated cloud backup. The Kin backs up the entire device, including photos, videos, message history and call log into a free online storage area that can be accessed from any browser — all without the user doing anything to trigger it. It’s a feature that can come in handy when the phone is dead or missing.
But you wouldn’t have known that from Microsoft’s Kin ads.
See Also:
Top photo: Kin One and Kin Two
Photos: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
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