As a US$750bn worth company, Apple would not be what it is today without the phenomenal success of its products. Before even the Cupertino tech manufacturer came up with iPhone, iPad and Mac devices, it had launched a few products that did not perform well in the market, leading to their extinction.
IBTimes Singapore has listed three of Apple's biggest product fails of all time. Read it below:
Third generation iPod Shuffle
In 2009, Apple launched its tiniest music player. With the manufacturer's intentions to make it the kind of music device that randomly play songs it being button-less, the market did not receive it well. Apparently, Apple's purpose for the third-generation iPod Shuffle did not come across the consumers.
When Apple released the fourth-generation iPod Shuffle the following year, tracks went back to normal with clickable buttons. But just last month, the company finally decided to end the production of the iPod Shuffle alongside iPod Nano.
Macintosh TV
In 1993, Apple gambled on its first computer-television, the Macintosh TV. The product did get much attention at the time—not because it was a game-changing machine back then but because the product made no sense for those who have television sets and computers at home.
Apple was able to produce around 10,000 units of Mac TV before it was finally discontinued a few months after. Recently, the company had been reported testing the waters again, this time, not in hardware production but in programming.
Motorola ROKR
Before the first iPhone came to life, there was already Motorola being one of the global leaders in the mobile computing industry. The Motorola ROKR E1 was the first phone to house Apple's iTunes music player in 2005.
The product apparently did not do well since it was launched with the iPod Nano on the side. The mobile phone lost its place in the market to the music player since it cannot hold up to 100 tracks. The product continued with new successors in the line but soon vanished into thin air.
Pippin
Apple also ventured into the gaming hardware sphere in 1996 with Pippin, a Mac-based home gaming console. Although it can support other software, Pippin was taken off the shelves a year after failing to sell.
