Concrete

Microsoft FINALLY discontinued the Kinect

The once mighty Kinect

Let’s admit, we all saw it coming. Kinect was going no further. Microsoft announced that it will stop the production of its permanently. Once it was in the Guinness books for the fastest selling consumer electronics device. Microsoft was selling 133,333 units every day. They crossed the 8 million mark within first 60 days. Those were some rocket sales. Results of a rocket-fueled campaign.

The launch of connecting was heavy with the goal of expanding the market for motion sensors. It was launched by Steven Spielberg at E3. At Kinect’s launch in New York’s Times Square, Ne Yo performed with hundreds of dancers wearing T-Shirts saying “I’m the controller”. It was a good campaign the resulted in huge sales.

microsoft kinect
NYC Times Square Kinect Ne Yo | TechVire  Credit: Getty+Bloomberg

Lack of developer’s interest lead to the demise

When Microsoft launched the Xbox One to further expand the application of its motion sensors. There was a huge lack of solid title launches. Hell, I would’ve liked to play GTA with motion sensors. Developers were not so enthusiastic about getting in the motion controls. Firstly, the development was expensive, and there was no push from Microsoft to create for Kinect. Even on the launch of Xbox One, Microsoft was without any major title launches. Microsoft didn’t even bother to launch its own games for the motion sensor console.

Hardware dies but technologies are bulletproof

 

Source: GIPHY

Five years forward and we’re witnessing the end of Kinect. Though, Microsoft will still provide the support for Kinect, cause not doing that will be a huge mistake. Microsoft will lose a big chunk of its users and its credibility. Though the Kinect’s technology will still be alive with HoloLens. We’ll soon witness how that unfolds. People show interest in technologies like motion sensors and VR. What you think is stopping technologies like motion sensors and VR from taking off?