This Is The Worst Cell Phone of All Time

Quick Overview

The Microsoft Kin, intended as the next generation of social phone for younger users, failed catastrophically due to being killed just weeks after launch, selling fewer than 10,000 units, being too expensive, lacking essential smartphone features like an app store, and being tied to a restrictive, costly Verizon data plan.

Key Points: Microsoft killed the Kin product line less than two months after its April 2010 launch due to catastrophic failure. Fewer than 10,000 Kin devices were sold, despite Microsoft spending approximately $1 billion developing the platform, which was based on Windows CE and acquired from Danger, the makers of the Sidekick. The Kin's core feature, Kin Studio, aggregated social media feeds from Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter into a single timeline, but it lacked compatibility with Microsoft's Marketplace for Mobile and had no third-party application store. The required Verizon service plan was expensive, demanding a mandatory two-year contract with minimum monthly charges of $40 for calling, $30 for data, and $20 for unlimited texting. The Kin One retailed for $150 and the Kin Two for $200 (before mail-in rebates), making them significantly more expensive than contemporary budget phones, though cheaper than iPhones of the era ($200–$300). Early reviews were largely negative, calling the device one of the worst devices to reach the market, and the marketing itself was pulled after complaints it encouraged 'sexting' among teens.

Context: The video examines the short, spectacular failure of the Microsoft Kin, a line of social-focused mobile phones launched in the spring of 2010, which aimed to capture the younger, social-networking-obsessed demographic. Developed by Microsoft's Danger division (creators of the T-Mobile Sidekick), the Kin phones were designed to seamlessly integrate social media updates into a central feed called Kin Studio. However, the product was launched into a rapidly evolving smartphone market dominated by the iPhone and Android, and its fate was sealed by poor sales, high plan costs, missing features, and controversial marketing.