Zuckerberg's attempt at putting "mobile first" may have turned out to be a fiasco after all. Citing a "trusted" source that it did not identify, technology blog BGR said telecommunications major AT&T will soon terminate sales of HTC First, the maiden Android device to be pre-installed with Facebook's own user interface layer, Facebook Home. It is expected that sales will be ceased once AT&T fulfills its contractual obligations, and leftover inventory will be shipped back to HTC.
HTC First, more popularly known as "Facebook Phone" was launched on April 12 in a bid to extend the social networking major's ubiquity and capitalize on the exponentially expanding smartphone market.
The possibility that AT&T might abandon the phone surfaces hardly a week after the Texas-based wireless carrier curiously slashed HTC First's price to $0.99 from $99 sparking supposition of lackluster demand. The price drop, widely speculated to be an attempt to move as much inventory as possible, seems to have done little to help waning consumer interest. If BGR is to be believed, past-week nationwide sales figures of the phone have been flirting with the dangerously low 15,000 mark.
In response to the media conjecture, AT&T is said to have contacted BGR via e-mail stating "As mentioned previously, we do pricing promotions all the time and have made no decisions on future plans."
Furthermore, Facebook Home, which is available as an application to certain other Android powered devices, took nearly a month to reach 1 million downloads, according to download numbers at Google Play Store. It, however, reached the 500,000 mark within ten days of being offered for download, according to technology website CNET, with the user rating and reviews on the Store leaving much to be desired.
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