Verizon slashing Microsoft Kin prices

According to a leak reported by BGR, Verizon is already slashing the prices of the Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two devices, part of a wider promotion that starts tomorrow.

Just last week, it was rumored that Verizon had only sold 500 Kin devices since launch in May, an unexpectedly low number, even by most conservative standards.

If the rumor is true, which seems likely, Verizon is slashing the prices in an effort to sell excess stock of the smartphones.

The Kin One will drop to $30 from $50 and the Kin Two from $100 to $50, with both also offering "BOGA," (buy one, get an additional phone of equal or lesser price free).

While decent low-end smartphones, the Kins have been criticized for their mandatory $70 voice+text+data plans, especially since the phones were built for teenagers.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Jun 2010 16:36

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11 comments

DoomLight

i dont think those Kin phones were a success. i know a lot of people with smartphones and no one has one of those KIN things.

27.6.2010 16:54 #1

bbbob

My wife switches phones about every 3 months (SPOILED) and was going to get one of these until I told her it was a Microsoft phone. Then she asked me aren't they the ones with the blue screen of death,the screw up that is/was Vista and the 20 or so rrod 360's in the basement. I told her yes and now she has a blackberry

27.6.2010 17:11 #2

bomber991

Those kin phones look like ugly pieces of crap, and as those canadians would say, they also have a dumb name to boot! If anything thing, I'd except them to be the free / entry level phone verizon offers you when you sign up on a 2 year contract.

28.6.2010 00:40 #3

Josipher

these things should be sold at an "everything for 1$" store" as phones for children. just big enough not to swallow

28.6.2010 01:16 #4

DSWarrior

LOL @ bomber991 and Josipher!

To be honest I haven't even seen a real Kin...only on the web. Almost everyone I know has a smartphone and most of them have HTCs or Blackberries ... but NO ONE owns/wants a Kin. What were Microsoft thinking when they designed this (supposedly) for teenagers? Kids nowadays only want expensive smartphones, like: iPhones, or Android based devices...

Oh well...Looks like yet another failed attempt for N$...They should really stick to computer OSes and programs and let the Kin, the Zune, the Xbox and so on, a graceful death...they will never learn.

DS Warrior ! ! !

28.6.2010 07:03 #5

Mik3h

Actually a lot of their revenue is generated from Xbox and game sales and Xbox Live.

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28.6.2010 07:12 #6

DoomLight

The Xbox is still number one as far as hardcore games go.

but this Kin. i just never seen one. Microsoft needs to make a smartphone that can compete with android and iphone. and Windows Mobile 7 isn't gonna do it either. it looks so plain and boring. that i can bet the reviewers are gonna flame it when its released.

the Kin is supposed to be a networking phone for social sites like facebook, twitter, etc. but u can do it so much better with an HTC, apple, blackberry, etc!

Msoft just stick with computers and xbox. Windows Mobile 6.5 was it. its dead now.

28.6.2010 09:19 #7

dEwMe

I think they hit a real good point on the crazy high monthly fees required by these smart phones...

Just my $0.02,

dEwMe

28.6.2010 11:04 #8

bam431

Wait a minute, should I have notice the whole Kin one - Kinect thing days ago.

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28.6.2010 18:30 #9

ThePastor

The conventional wisdom is that the kin's were released in order to test some of the new Windows phone 7 stuff and were never really expected to be hugely popular.

I guess this doesn't bode well for the Windows phone 7... (due to be out this winter and already out dated by current Android and iPhone phones)

Unfortunately for them, all Blu-ray protections have been broken and BD rips can be found around the Internet, usually before the retail even hits shelves.

28.6.2010 18:49 #10

KillerBug

If those prices were without any contract, they would be about right...but a 2-year contract (with data) makes the Kin a bad deal at any price; even free.

Microsoft thinks that they can do what they did with PCs to the cell phone market; that is, beat Linux and Apple...but they just can't compete with Android or iPhone OS...at least not by making windows 7 the most restrictive smartphone OS in history. Heck, their smartphone sales are lower than Palm; and palm got bought by HP because they couldn't sell enough phones...now PalmOS is replacing windows on some new HP devices; Microsoft can't even hold onto the mobile market built by their own supporters!

28.6.2010 23:41 #11

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