The first mobile phone was launched in 1973 by Motorola. Since then some crazy and bizarre mobile phones have come out and because of those bizarre devices, manufacturers came to know what people like and what they don’t. Today we have some amazing devices capable of doing more than we expect them to do. But those phones won’t be here if it wasn’t for the failed mobile phones. Some failures have been pretty significant and have left a considerable mark on the industry. Here is a list of 5 failed mobile phones that were so bad they left a mark on technology history. Let’s get started!
- NOKIA N-GAGE: Nokia N-Gage was released in 2003. At that time, Nokia was the market leader and their phones were selling like hotcakes. The N-Gage had a weird design and people called it the taco phone. It was marketed as a multimedia device, a handheld gaming console, and a phone. But sadly, it did not accomplish anything it promised. The left side of the phone had a d-pad, some multimedia switches for radio and music. The right side had the T-9 keypad and in between was the screen. Nokia was too ambitious with this device and ultimately it was shut down in 2009 and now it made into the list of failed mobile phones.
- SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 didn’t fail commercially. After the launch in 2016, people instantly became a fan of the curved glass on the edges. Soon, reports started coming from around the world about exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7s. Many people were injured because of the blasts. The problem was so widespread that Samsung requested customers to return their Note 7 devices even if it was working just fine. Allegedly, there was an issue with the battery because of which the device kept exploding. After a year before the release of the Note 8, Samsung re-released the Note 7 by the name; Samsung Galaxy Note Fan Edition. It had ha relatively small-sized battery but the rest of the components were same. However, it was too late and the issues with Note 7 definitely had negative impact on the sales of Note 8.
- RED HYDROGEN ONE: This is one of the most recent failed mobile phones. Red produces high-end cameras which are capable of shooting raw footage. Red decided to enter the smartphone industry and the dummy phone looked pretty solid and appealing. 4D Holographic display was the main feature of this device. Coming from a camera manufacturer, it was expected that the camera performance would be outstanding. After trying the device, critics said that the camera quality was just mediocre and also the device performance wasn’t great even though it had the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset. To top it all off, the device was priced at around $1300 which was not at all worth it. A second version of the device is on the cards. Since Red did not have any knowledge of the smartphone industry, they failed miserably.
- BLACKBERRY Z10: During the 2000s, Nokia and Blackberry were two mobile manufacturers to be reckoned with. Blackberry catered the needs of businessmen with specialized phones. Blackberry phones were known primarily for their security and Blackberry Messenger. After the introduction of Android and IOS, Blackberry OS lost its charm. Application developers also turned their back on Blackberry. The Z10 was an attempt to rebuild the Blackberry brand. Z10 had a brand new user interface but it wasn’t good enough. BBOS10 was the name of the operating system but the device wasn’t good enough and so Blackberry kept losing millions of dollars. Finally, in 2015, Blackberry launched the Priv which was using Android.
- HTC CHACHA: This Taiwanese mobile maker was frequently in the news because their phones were so beautiful. From 2010 – 2015, HTC enjoyed great success. It collaborated with Facebook to create tow devices; ChaCha and Salsa. Both of them had a dedicated one-touch Facebook launch button. But on the performance front, the device wasn’t any good. Also, the design was a bit awkward. The critics didn’t like the phone and neither did the customers. All in all, the product was a flop commercially and critically as well. ChaCha and Salsa are now in the list of HTC’s failed mobile phones.
Honorable mentions: AMAZON FIRE PHONE, HTC SURROUND, MOTOROLA AURA R1, PALM TREO 700W, and MOTOROLA ROKR E1.
