Did you know that Apple’s first computer was a massive flop?
And did you know that MySpace was once given the opportunity to buy a multi-billion dollar company for peanuts?
They turned it down and ultimately found themselves without a market value.
From mobile wallets with truly unfortunate names to the phone that casually caught fire, these are some of the biggest tech flops of all time.
#1. Apple's first computer was actually a huge flop, what was it called?
Introduced in 1983, Apple Lisa was a commercial failure because, you probably guessed it, it was too expensive.
It cost $9,995 – equivalent to around $30,000 (!) in today’s money.
Mark Zuckerberg offered to sell Facebook to MySpace for $75 million in 2005 but MySpace refused.
MySpace is still active but it doesn’t really have a market value anymore.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s parent company Meta has an estimated market capitalization in excess of $600 billion as of June 2023.
#3. Who made the wannabe 'iPod killer' Zune?
Designed by Microsoft to compete with the Apple iPod, Zune flopped rather spectacularly.
Microsoft sold just two million units between 2007 and 2008.
During the same period, Apple sold nearly 100 million iPods.
Google was released in 2011 but it was too little, too late, and it never really took off.
In 2019, just 8 years after the launch, Google finally pulled the plug and shut Google down.
#5. What was the first big tech company to launch smart glasses?
It’s been so long we nearly forgot about it but Google actually launched a pair of smart glasses 10 years ago in 2013.
Simply dubbed ‘Glass’, Google built several prototypes but the product never made it to production.
#6. What was Verizon's failed mobile wallet called?
In 2012, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T teamed up to launch a mobile wallet.
It didn’t really work very well and, more importantly, they gave it the worst name ever: ISIS.
Surprise surprise: it flopped.
#7. Why did Samsung recall the Galaxy Note 7?
In 2016, at least 35 Galaxy Note 7 phones caught fire, apparently for no reason.
At one point it got so bad airlines simply banned it.
Samsung had to recall the phone, and shortly after they retired the model and replaced it.
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