Out with the old and in with the new is a rather appropriate phrase to describe the fast-paced and hyper-competitive world of consumer electronics. With each passing year, new products are introduced while underperforming products and services are unceremoniously tossed aside, destined to be forgotten.
With 2016 right around the corner, we decided to run down a few of the more notable technologies and products that were abruptly killed off in 2015.
What happens when you hire engineers who designed a phone no one wanted to design the sequel to a digital headset that no one wanted? We’re amazingly about to find out. More →
It was obvious to just about everyone when Amazon launched its Fire Phone that the device was going to absolutely bomb. It didn’t offer any truly compelling features compared to other Android phones on the market, it was priced at $199 on contract and it was an exclusive to AT&T. All told, it was a baffling misstep from a company that had long prided itself in delivering good value to consumers at the expense posting high profit margins. More →
Amazon’s Fire Phone is without a doubt this year’s biggest mobile flop but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos isn’t too worried about it. The reason, he tells Business Insider, is that he tries to foster a corporate culture that encourages experimentation and that tolerates failure, at least on a limited basis. After all, not every risky bet you take will pay off and you have to live with the hits as well as the misses if you want to remain an innovative company. More →
People want electronics for the holidays now more than ever, with tablets and smartphones being some of the most popular gifts to get. While seemingly everyone wants an iPhone or iPad, there are other devices that are just as good.
With the National Retail Federation showing that the average person will spend more than $800 this year for Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa gifts, it’s important to make sure every dollar counts. As such, there are quite a few devices that aren’t worth your time and you should avoid buying for anyone, including your mortal enemies.
Here are three phones to avoid buying this holiday season, at any cost, even if they’re free. More →
We’ve known for a while that Amazon’s Fire Phone is this year’s version of the Microsoft Kin or the Facebook-centric HTC First — that is, it’s a phone that is destined to go down as one of the biggest bombs in smartphone history. CNET takes a look at Amazon’s earnings report released on Thursday and brings us some new numbers that show us just how big of a flop the Fire Phone has really been. More →
Amazon’s Fire Phone is definitely 2014’s version of the Microsoft Kin and the Facebook-centric HTC First — in other words, it will go down as one of the most spectacular mobile phone bombs the world has ever seen. More →
We already knew that Amazon’s Fire Phone was doing very poorly but now it’s reached a grim milestone that’s reminiscent of the HTC First, a.k.a., the Facebook phone. Per Business Insider, Amazon has now slashed the price of the Fire Phone down to just $0.99 with a two-year contract with AT&T. This price cut comes less than three months after its official release, when it came out priced at $199.99 with a two-year contract from AT&T. For perspective, the HTC First got slashed from $99.99 on contract to $0.99 on contract just a month after its unveiling, so at least the Fire Phone hasn’t bombed quite that quickly. More →
As many people have predicted, Amazon’s Fire Phone looks like a flop of the first order, although we’ll never know for sure just how big of a flop it’s been since Amazon wisely won’t release sales figures for the device. To make up for this lack of concrete data, The Guardian’s Charles Arthur has done some guess work using data provided by both Chitika and ComScore to come up with an estimate for Fire Phone sales and the numbers are even uglier than we could have imagined. More →
We’re not sure how many times we have to say this, but offering your premiere piece of hardware as a carrier exclusive is not a good idea. New research from Chitika shows that Amazon’s Fire Phone hasn’t been a smashing success so far and that Amazon’s decision to make it an AT&T exclusive may be a big part of the reason why. More →
The Internet has not been kind to Amazon’s first foray into the smartphone market. The ironically named Fire phone has received a frigid response from consumers, failing to make any significant impact on the sales charts and prompting some very harsh comparisons from BGR, but the first major software update from Amazon might begin to repair the phone’s already badly damaged reputation. More →
Even though there was a lot of hype around the Amazon Fire Phone, customers just aren’t buying it, at least not yet. In a survey, R.W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian notes “muted demand” among potential smartphone buyers, especially ahead of the next iPhone launch that is reported to take place in the middle of next month. Of the 1,000 people who participated in the survey, only 5% of respondents said they would buy a Fire Phone, compared to 43.8% for an iPhone, 32.6% for Android phones (including Samsung, HTC, Nexus and others), 6.8% for a BlackBerry, and 5.3% for a Windows Phone. More →
