Verizon pricing for Microsoft Kin phones may doom them
Verizon announced its pricing for the upcoming Microsoft Kin 1 and Kin 2 phones, and the reaction has been less than favorable.
Microsoft recently announced its upcoming Kin 1 & Kin 2 phones which are focused on social networking, feature no third-party application and support and target people who are looking for their first smartphone without all of the bells and whistles. The Kin 1, which resembles a make-up compact, will be $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and signing up for a two-year contract. The Kin 2, which is more of a traditional slide out phone, will run $99.99 after the same mail-in rebate and contract agreement as its smaller sibling.
While most agree the handset pricing is fine, it’s the pricing for the services which is disappointing critics. The phones are pretty clearly targeted at teenagers, will cost $30 for voice service, and $30 for the required data service, so the minimum per month cost will be $60. This may be a sticking point for teenagers and parents who at times pay for their children’s bills.
The pricing will cause issues for kids, and considering you will be able to pick up full-featured smartphones such as the iPhone 3G or any of the various Android phones for similar pricing, it isn’t going to make sense to most people to pay for a phone that is so centered around one feature.
Only time will tell if this was the kiss of death for the Kins, but people are not expressing a lot of excitement over the phones now that the pricing has been announced.
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May 6th, 2010
It’s obvious already that the Kin is doomed before it is even on sale.
The whole concept is wrong. The execution is wrong. Typical Microsoft ineptness at mobile devices.
We can’t blame Verizon. Microsoft operates in the same telephony conditions as every other handset OEM. But the others will profit, and Microsoft’s Kin will die in the market.
Microsoft made the disastrous decision to make Kin into a big data-using phone. It uses masses of data to upload every bit of its content. All photos upload to Microsoft, whether the user wants it or not.
Because Kin uses such massive amounts of data, Verizon is just charging the value of what Kin uses. The mistake is Microsoft’s. How did they not think about the costs that would be involved in this style of handset?
To compound the situation, the Kin handset is missing features (just like Windows Phone 7 will also be missing features). Twitter is dysfunctional on the Kin. There are message delays. Slow browser that crashes.
It’s really a hopeless, hapless and appless phone.