Was Microsoft's Kin Stillborn?
It was tax time when we first saw Microsoft commit to launching the new Kin smartphone with Verizon, and it was just over six weeks ago it became available in stores. And, on Wednesday, Microsoft delivered the news that the company will halt work on the product it has spent millions on prime-time broadcast television to brand and promote.
The surprising decision was revealed before the Kin began shipping into the European market, and before the critical U.S. “Back To School “ and holiday shopping seasons, that could provide a return on the marketing and business investments Microsoft has made in the product to date.
As previously reported here, the Kin had some traceable heritage in the T-Mobile Sidekick, created by a company, Danger, which Microsoft purchased in early 2008 for an estimated $500 million. Many of the Danger team members immediately assumed roles on the Microsoft project team that delivered Kin, which was originally code named “Pink.” A few quarters later, the Danger network crashed, leaving hundreds of thousands of loyal Sidekick users stranded without their contacts, call history or messages.
During the twenty-four months that elapsed since Microsoft acquired Danger, Windows Mobile suffered its own identity crisis, causing delays that have impacted Microsoft’s credibility with consumers, OEMs and carriers. At its annual MIX Conference in March, the company unveiled its newly re-branded Windows Phone 7 operating system to developers.
A lot also happened in the short time between announcing the availability of the Kin, designed to run on the Verizon network in the U.S., and delivering it to customers through retail outlets, making it questionable whether the product could have ever realistically come to market as a healthy baby which might be allowed to grow into a mature brand franchise for Microsoft.
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