Microsoft Kin
Remember the Microsoft Kin? I don’t, either. This short-lived mobile phone was purpose-built for social networking. There were two models, the Kin One and the Kin Two. The One was egg-shaped like a Tamogachi and the front slid up to reveal a keyboard below, while the Two was more similar in shape to a Motorola Droid or Danger Hiptop (or T-Mobile Sidekick). I mention the latter because Microsoft purchased Danger for $500 million in 2008 and the Kin was a spiritual successor to the Hiptop.
Where the Hiptop, or Sidekick, thrived from 2002 to 2010, the Kin was abandoned after just two months. Verizon sent all unsold units back to Microsoft, pulling online sales entirely. Why didn’t it catch on? Some point to development hell, with Engadget reporting that Microsoft’s decision to use Windows CE instead of sticking with the Sidekick platform (which, again, it acquired for a huge sum) set back the project by 18 months.
It didn’t help that the phones had tiny screens, were lacking important apps (and couldn’t download third-party apps), and were running on a fluttered, unintuitive OS. Reports put the Kin’s total sales figures in the hundreds on the low end to “south of 10,000” on the high end. Either way, it was nowhere near successful enough to compete against Apple.
