How Microsoft Kin Helped Bankrupt Sharp Electronics
Preface: Everything in this story is hearsay, told to me by someone who was directly involved in the events but who sometimes embellished around the edges. Also there were many contributing factors to the downfall of Sharp Electronics, however the events that transpired sure didn’t help things along.
Sins Of The Father
Microsoft Band 2 needed a curved screen. Circa 2014 only 2 companies made curved screens, Samsung, and Sharp. Samsung, who at the time had a competing product to Band, offered to sell us a 1.3 in screen for only $35 per unit. I asked the guy in charge of sourcing what options we had. “Well, we called up Sharp, but they literally won’t pick up the phone for us anymore. That is our fault.”