Another competitor who was trying to get a foothold in the tablet market was HP. They released the HP Touchpad in 2011 and put a lot of money and effort into promoting it. Before the product was even available, the company held a special event to announce it, but the time between the announcement and its release was too long and consumer interest waned, with no one exactly sure when they would arrive in stores.
Although the tablet wasn’t bad, due to low sales HP must have felt that it couldn’t compete with Apple. They announced that the Touchpad was going to be discontinued after only a month and a half on the market. The prices immediately went way down, and you could purchase one for only 99$. Ironically, in the end, the demand was extremely high for these discounted tablets. The outlook for this expensive gadget looked bright, but then the clouds rolled in.
Blackberry PlayBook
Back in the day, Blackberries were more than just a phone or a PDA (personal digital assistant), they were a status symbol. They let the world know that you were taking care of business. Whoever was checking their Blackberry while they were out and about was both busy and important and they wanted you to know it. The devices, however, were not just about making a statement, they were also convenient and easy to use. The company should have kept those things in mind when designing the Blackberry PlayBook which came out in 2011.
This tablet-style device was great if you wanted to watch videos or browse the web, but it had one major design flaw, you couldn’t check your email on it. The only way to do so was to use the PlayBook together with your regular Blackberry, which made using it more complicated for people who owned a Blackberry and impossible for those who didn’t. Users found this unacceptable and the PlayBook quickly fell out of favor. This streaming giant decided to make things more complicated for their users in this almost unwatchable fail.
Qwikster
Netflix made a name for itself by making things easier for its users by letting them skip the drive to the video store. Over time though, streaming became an ever-expanding part of their business. In 2011, the company decided that it would be a good idea to create a new service called Qwikster to handle the mail DVD rentals, while Netflix would continue to focus on streaming television and movies.
Company execs may have thought this was a great idea, but the consumers did not. They already had one account which was for everything and had no desire to complicate things. The move caused Netflix stocks to plummet and CEO Reed Hastings announced that the plan was canceled only 23 days after it was announced. This competitor wanted to compete with Apple so bad it hurt and failed.
Google Glass
The futuristic Google Glass was an incredibly anticipated and highly buzzed product. It was released in 2013 and hyped as technology that you could wear. Over time, however, the reality of Google Glass became apparent and the excitement definitely waned as its shortcoming came to light. The glasses, for instance, could not be worn in public places like movie theatres because they are always able to shoot video and take pictures.
Not only does that sound a little creepy and bring up privacy issues, but the glasses were also soon found to be redundant. Why would you need an expensive computer inside your glasses, when you already have everything you need in the form of a smartphone in your pocket, which is more convenient and can be put away as needed. This app may bear a successful name, but it was anything but.
Facebook Home
In 2013, Facebook offered Android users the option of having it take over their home screen by installing the Facebook Home app and paying a two-year subscription fee of $99. This was the height of Facebook’s success before the backlash about privacy and a lot of people were tempted to give the company even more access to their device.
Those who did soon regretted it. The app drained your phone’s battery and data plan, hid other apps and filled your screen with unending notifications. The price dropped to 99 cents only a month after its release, and after multiple attempts to fix the problems, the whole thing was scrapped. Amazon’s smartphone offering was not the smartest in the bunch.