Verizon Abandons Kin 1 & Kin 2

The great experiment of selling “simpler” smartphone is a FAIL. After Microsoft announced that it was pulling the plug on Kin, a new line of enhanced-texter phones, Verizon will also pull the plug on Kin 1 and Kin 2, the two devices that were launched just recently. Given that no-one is working on Kin at Microsoft, it’s not really a surprise that Verizon would eventually discontinue it. By all accounts, the sales were fairly abysmal anyway. Here’s my take on why the Kin failed: too expensive, too limited. There was just not enough added-value when compared to smartphones.