MS SNS 폰 Kin 결국 실패

MS의 불장난 같았던 SNS 메시징폰 Kin 폰이 결국 실패로 끝나는 것 같다.
기사에 따르면 지난 2달간 503대가 팔렸다는 말이 있고
Facebook App에서 Kin 단말 통계에서 8800유저 통계가 있지만
8800을 최대 판매치라고 가정하더라도 MS 의 브랜드를 놓고 보면 처참한 실패가
아닐 수 없다.

아무리 세계적인 기업이라도 전략 부재로 제품 출시를 하면 어떤 결과가 나오는지
좋은 사례가 될 것 같다.

p.s. 그나저나 도데체 왜 이런 시도를 MS가 했을까? 돈이 남아돌아서?


From : http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/07/08/shocking-microsoft-kin-did-not-sell-well-at-all/

Shocking: Microsoft Kin did not sell well. At all.

by Greg Kumparak on July 8, 2010

Given that Microsoft nixed the Kin roughly 18 minutes after it launched, it should come as no surprise that the thing didnt, you know, sell very well.

But just how bad was it?

DaringFireball’s John Gruber says a “well-placed little birdie” pinned the number at around 503 units during its two month lifespan. If that’s true, it’s an absolute trainwreck; I’m fairly confident in saying that even the lowliest, rattiest dumb phone that carriers only keep around in the backroom for the sake of the people who come in demanding a phone that does absolutely nothing besides call people sells more than 503 units in two months.

It might not be quite that bad, though. PocketNow points out that the Kin Facebook app (an app which is automatically attached to a user when they sign on to Facebook from the Kin) has over 8,800 users. Unless 94% of the people using the Kin app installed it just for the hell of it (without buying a Kin), Microsoft sold quite a bit more than 503 units.

Still – even 8,800 units is an… well, the word “embarrassment” doesn’t quite capture the scale properly. Even at the full, no-contract price of $329 for the Kin One, 8,800 units only works out to 2.8 million dollars. While 2.8 million would be an impressive pull for any small operation, this is Microsoft we’re talking about. There was a team of engineers hired, user interfaces designed and coded, expensive hardware prototyped and built, launch parties and press conferences thrown.. there is no way that 2.8 million even begins to cover it.

It’s too bad, really. Some of the ideas — like the Kin Studio syncing service — were great. It’s too bad that nearly everything else about the handsets were garbage, as we’d predicted months before it was officially announced.