KIN fail: Microsoft blame-game begins (and Allie's dog)

By Richi Jennings. July 8, 2010.

After the debacle of Microsoft canceling its KIN phone within two months of launch, the recriminations begin. While some blame the ex-Danger team, many point fingers at the Microsoft mobile business' management. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers are glad to have another smartphone to criticize.

Your humble blogwatcher selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention Allie Brosh's "retarded" dog...
(MSFT)
 
 
Jay Yarow has a deep throat in Redmond:

"Embarrassment all over campus from the rank and file about the Kin announcement. ... No one thought it was a great product to launch anyway to begin with. ... We had a huge launch party on campus and I bet that party cost more than the amount of revenues we took.
...
"I suspect we launched because we felt like we HAD to. ... HUGE fail."

The anonymous Microsoftie behind the Mini-Microsoft blog lays into KIN management, notably one Andy Lees:

What the hell where all those people doing? ... I was willing to let the market be the judge of KIN. Verdict? Guilty, guilty, guilty. ... Interesting comments:
...
"Personally I quit because of the frustrating management and autocratic decision style of Terry Myerson and Andrew Lees. ... We often talk about how Andrew Lees still has a job."
...
"You can bet Andy was involved in the development of Kin, the partnership agreements ... and most importantly the "ship it". ... Absolutely no thanks to any pro-active decision making on Andy's part. ... Er, the guy was in charge for two years of Kin development. He could have made this decision far earlier."

 
[Disclosure and disclaimer: your humble blogwatcher worked in the same organization as Andy some 20 years ago; however, he remembers absolutely nothing about his competence or lack of it.]
 
John Gruber has another Microsoft mole:

I can’t vouch for the following, but a well-placed little birdie told me over the weekend that they sold a grand total of 503 Kins before they pulled the plug.

Taylor Buley does the math:

That's less than 10 a day over the 56 days between the Kin's May 6 launch and June 30 demise. ... Consider that Apple announced it sold about 37,000 iPads a day.

But Adam Z. Lein casts some doubt:

The KIN registers its Facebook app on Facebook, where anybody can actually see the total number of monthly active users. ... The KIN Facebook app ... can only be used by people who have KIN devices. So how many people are actually using KIN devices that are connected to Facebook? 8,810 as of right now.

Jason Dunn offers these thoughts:

The Mini Microsoft blog is a treasure-trove of fascinating insider information. ... If even half of what's written is true, KIN was in trouble long before launch and should never have seen the light of day. ... Business schools will be studying the KIN debacle for years to come.

Harry McCracken recollects:

At the briefings I attended on the Kin, Microsoft execs repeatedly made the point that the Kin was for young, highly social people. ... Microsoft thought it had figured out what those folks wanted, but ... there’s more and more evidence that the Kin represented a massive misunderstanding on Microsoft’s part.

On the other hand, here's Jeff Nolan:

True, Microsoft deserves a lot of grief for bringing a failed product to the market. ... However, I think Microsoft deserves some credit for recognizing that the product was destined for failure and ... pulling the plug after 6 weeks.
...
If the next Microsoft “big idea” mobile product is a turd then the critics will have been justified ... concerning the organizational dysfunction.

 
And Finally...
Allie Brosh confirms her fear: "My dog might be slightly retarded."
 
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com.

You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.