// startup autopsy
Microsoft KIN
48 days on sale. The shortest hardware product life in Microsoft history.
marketfitSudden Collapse
Unexpected shutdown within weeks of a trigger · Fatal mistake: Verizon priced KIN with full smartphone data plans despite limited smartphone functionality
// the model, blind
Evaluating only Microsoft KIN’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Unit economics as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: No market fit.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Microsoft acquires Danger Inc. for approximately $500 million, the team behind the Sidekick phone, forming the foundation of what would become Project Pink (KIN).
FOUNDING
Microsoft officially establishes the KIN product line internally, committing over $240 million in total development investment targeting teenage social media users.
PRODUCT LAUNCH
Microsoft announces KIN ONE and KIN TWO at a press event, marketing them as social-focused phones with integrated MySpace, Facebook, and Zune support for the youth demographic.
PRODUCT LAUNCH
KIN ONE and KIN TWO officially launch on Verizon's network on May 14, 2010, priced at $49.99 and $99.99 respectively but requiring full smartphone data plans costing $30/month despite lacking key smartphone features like apps.
PIVOT
Within weeks of launch, reports emerge that KIN sold fewer than 10,000 units total, with Verizon stores struggling to generate consumer interest due to the mismatch between the device's limited feature set and its premium data plan pricing.
SHUTDOWN
Sudden Collapse: Microsoft discontinues KIN on July 2, 2010 — only 48 days after launch — pulling all devices from Verizon shelves and folding the team into the Windows Phone 7 division, resulting in zero commercial return on the $240M+ investment.