In this article we discuss the 5 biggest product flops in history. If you want to read our detailed analysis of these products, go directly to the 15 Biggest Product Flops in History.
5. Ford Edsel (Annual Revenue: 127 billion USD)
Despite having all the features that American car buyers want, Ford Edsel was a terrible flop. Launched back in 1958, preceded by a year-long campaign dubbed as E-Day. Ford Edsel was branded as the most refined car of the time. The development was carried out after taking inputs from car shoppers all over America. Everyone was expecting ” a car of the future”.
4. Microsoft Bob (Annual Revenue: 143 billion USD)
Microsoft Bob is the forefather of all cutting-edge AI-supported applications such as Siri and Alexa; even Microsoft Bob launched long before meme-churning Clippy. Microsoft Bob interface was rolled out in the late 90s to overlay physical reality into the digital arena. The software extends a real-time environment to accomplish the little online tasks. Microsoft Bob was the replica of technology that we call today – digital reality.
Image by Tawanda Razika from Pixabay
3. Google+ (Annual Revenue: 181 billion USD)
Google+ was launched as a single social media platform combining all services of Google into a single platform. Nonetheless, the project has seen a year-over-year decline leading to the wiped-off by 98% engagement. The service is almost dead. Larry Page, then CEO of Google, was inspired to leverage the boom in social media usage but is single-handedly beaten by existing players, Facebook and Twitter. He also circulated a memo to guarantee a 25% bonus to the staff in the condition of Google+ success. Nonetheless, Google+ could not emerge out better than the family social media network of Google staff.
Pixabay/Public Domain
2. Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (Annual Revenue: 206 billion USD)
Can fortunes be turned upside down by a single stroke of the moment? Samsung can tell it rightly. All went well with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 until the batteries started exploding like the party balloons. The seriousness of the affair snowballed when one of the batteries exploded in a flying plane. The South-Korean company had to call back all the stock besides fighting multiple litigations in different law courts.
Besides reputational loss, Samsung has to bear on the net cost of $5.3 billion upfront. The recalled sets were 2.5 million in number.
The flop kept haunting Samsung for a long, delaying the launch of the upcoming Galaxy S8. Note 7 was indeed a nightmare for Koh Dong-jin, the boss.
Ivan Garcia/Shutterstock.com
1. Amazon Fire Phone (Annual Revenue: 386 billion USD)
Back in 2014, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos did not know that the Fire phone in his hand would incur a cumulative loss of $170 million. Otherwise, he would have chucked it far away. The project was doomed to failure from the very beginning, and myriad technical glitches arose out of the blue.
Modern cell phones need to have two arsenals: tempting design and an incredible price to justify existence. The Amazon phone had neither.
pathdoc/Shutterstock.com
You can also take a peek at Top 10 Real Estate Billionaires in the World and 10 Best Biotech Stocks to Buy According to Cathie Wood.
