Facebook Home-sporting HTC First is now just 99 cents; Is ‘Facebook phone’ doomed?

Facebook Home-sporting HTC First is now just 99 cents; Is ‘Facebook phone’ doomed?

Have you purchased an HTC First?

The Facebook Home-sporting HTC First is now just 99 cents, reports Mashable. The phone’s price was cut from $99.99 with a two-year contract to 99 cents with the same two-year agreement. Though the price is certainly appealing to anyone who is tired of paying an arm and a leg for a phone, the sudden price slash could be a sign that the first HTC/Facebook collaboration isn’t going as well as both companies would have hoped.

HTC was relying on their relationship with Facebook to sell the new HTC First. Take, for example, the description of the phone on the company’s website.

“Keep up with all your friends in real time with the new HTC First, featuring Facebook Home. See a steady stream of photos and posts from friends on a home screen that refreshes automatically,” reads the description.

Facebook Home recently achieved a major milestone: one million downloads, according to Google play. The app lets Android users monitor a stream of posts and photos from friends on their home screen. CNET reports that Facebook released a new version of Facebook Home Thursday that addresses several software bugs, as well as issues with a process called side-loading.

Facebook Home seems to be losing steam since being released in mid-April. App Annie data, as cited by TechCrunch, reveals that within several weeks of its release, Facebook Home dropped out of the top 100 in any country and has yet to return. Data from Distimo’s analysis of the top 500 apps on Google Play confirms this trend.

Have you purchased an HTC First? Have you downloaded the Facebook Home app? Why isn’t the app more popular? Sound off in the comments section.

Be social, please share!

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *