Mobile Phones
Microsoft Kin
After buying the Sidekick maker and spending about a billion dollars, Microsoft launched the Kin "social phones" for teens — then killed them 48 days later, having reportedly sold fewer than 10,000 units.
- Company
- Microsoft
- Started
- 2010
- Ended
- 2010
- Days from launch to discontinuation
- 48
- Collapse speed
- Sudden
- Preventability
- High
- Lesson transfer
- Industry-wide
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-22
Narrative
The story
The ambition
Microsoft wanted a phone for the social-media generation. "Project Pink" — built on the team and technology from Danger, the company behind the beloved Sidekick — would become the Kin: a friendly, social-first device aimed at teens and twenty-somethings who lived on Facebook and Myspace.
The rise
The investment was serious: Microsoft bought Danger for around $500 million and poured roughly a billion dollars into the effort over two years, launching the Kin One and Kin Two in May 2010.
The cracks
The product made no sense for its market. The Kin sat between a feature phone and a smartphone — Verizon required a full, expensive smartphone data plan — yet it lacked the things that justify one, with no app store and no calendar. Inside Microsoft the project had been re-scoped around Windows Phone 7 and, after a management change, neglected by the executive who inherited it.
The collapse
The market answered immediately. Sales were dismal — by some accounts fewer than 10,000 units — and on June 30, 2010, Microsoft discontinued the Kin just 48 days after it launched. A cheaper, data-plan-free relaunch late that year fared no better.
The aftermath
The Kin became one of the fastest, most expensive product deaths in tech — a reminder that a billion dollars cannot buy a market for a device no one asked for.
The lessons
A product caught between two categories serves neither. Charging smartphone prices for a phone without smartphone capabilities, aimed at cost-conscious young buyers, and shipped by a team that had stopped believing in it, is a launch the market rejects on sight.
Causal timeline
Failure Anatomy
- 2010-05
A billion-dollar social phone
After buying Danger for ~$500M and spending about $1 billion overall, Microsoft launched the Kin One and Two in May 2010. [1]
- 2010
Wrong product, wrong price
The Kin required an expensive data plan but lacked an app store and calendar, caught between feature phone and smartphone. [2]
Poor execution - 2010
Neglected inside
Re-scoped around Windows Phone 7 and neglected after a management change, the project shipped without belief behind it. [3]
Internal conflict - 2010-06
Dead in 48 days
With dismal sales (reportedly under 10,000 units), Microsoft discontinued the Kin on June 30, 2010 — 48 days after launch. [4]
No real demand
Structured analysis
What Went Wrong
Root causes
An incomplete, mispriced product. The Kin required an expensive smartphone data plan yet lacked basics like an app store and calendar, caught between a feature phone and a smartphone. [2]
A re-scoped, neglected project. Internally the Kin was re-scoped around Windows Phone 7 and, after a management change, neglected by the executive who inherited it. [3]
Immediate trigger
Killed in 48 days. Dismal sales led Microsoft to discontinue the Kin only 48 days after launch. [4]
Visible symptoms
Almost no one bought it. The Kin reportedly sold fewer than 10,000 units before it was pulled. [4]
Warning signs
A core selling point undercut. Verizon's move to more expensive data pricing undercut a key selling point before the product could establish itself. [3]
Affected groups
Evidence
Claims & sources
Every numbered marker in the analysis links to the claim it rests on, and each claim to its sources.
- [1]
Microsoft launched the Kin One and Kin Two in May 2010 as "social phones" for young users, after acquiring Danger (maker of the Sidekick) for about $500 million and investing roughly $1 billion in the effort.
- [2]
The Kin was caught between a feature phone and a smartphone — it required an expensive smartphone data plan yet lacked basics like an app store and a calendar.
Moderate Reported explanation Microsoft Kin — Wikipedia Life and death of Microsoft Kin: the inside story - [3]
The Kin project was re-scoped around Windows Phone 7 and, after a management change, neglected internally by the executive who inherited it, with Verizon's more expensive data pricing undercutting a key selling point.
- [4]
Sales were dismal — reportedly fewer than 10,000 units — and Microsoft discontinued the Kin on June 30, 2010, just 48 days after launch.
Sources
Microsoft Kin — Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Life and death of Microsoft Kin: the inside story
Engadget · 2010-07-02