While Spotify has just announced a welcome increase in the number of paying subscribers on its platform, the streaming service is also confirming the end of the Car Thing, its touchscreen for cars launched just a year ago.
For the past few years, Spotify has been trying somehow to diversify its activities. The music streaming service, for example, has just launched video podcasts in France and five other countries. And in June 2022, the platform announced its ambitions to become the world’s number one audiobook.
And remember, in October 2021, Spotify has entered the hardware market for the first time with the Car Thing, a touchscreen for cars that allowed quick access to all of the app’s content. We use the imperfect here since the company has just confirmed the discontinuation of the production of the Car Thingafter only one year of career.
End clap for Spotify’s Car Thing
“The goal of Spotify’s exploration of Car Thing was to better understand in-car listening and bring audio within reach of more users and vehicles. Due to several factors, including product demand and supply chain issues, we have decided to discontinue production of Car Thing units.” said Daniel Ek, the founder of Spotify.
Fortunately, Spotify announces that it will support from a software point of view Car Thing devices already sold, but anyway, the company formalizes the end of its short adventure on the hardware market. With Car Thing, Spotify wanted to offer an alternative to users who could not use Android Auto or Apple Car Play in their vehicle.
Only, it must be recognized that if the device had a certain interest a few years ago, more and more new vehicles today integrate native support for Android Auto or Apple Car Play. Which in fact greatly reduces the attractiveness of the Car Thing. In addition, it should be remembered that the Car Thing required to hold a Spotify premium account to enjoy. The bill could therefore quickly rise, between the price of the subscription and the cost of the accessory sold for $90 (prices have since fallen considerably) in the United States.
Source : TechCrunch
