Spotify officially stopped manufacturing Car Thing, their first ever hardware, after only a year of its first release. According to reports, Spotify lost a staggering $32 million on Car Thing.
According to Spotify, the process was suspended due to a variety of reasons, including problems with product supply and demand. And the discontinuance came after the company’s most recent earnings report.
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What is Car Thing?
It is a Spotify hardware that can be attached to your car like a media player and allows Spotify Premium subscription to listen to exclusively Spotify music while driving. You can effortlessly connect your Spotify app to Car Thing via Bluetooth.
It does include a touch screen that allows you to listen to your favorite playlist or podcast with the touch of a button. You can also communicate with Spotify’s Car Thing using voice commands like as “Hey Spotify, skip this song”, “Hey Spotify, recommend something”.
What happens to those who have already purchased it?
Spotify claims that the devices it has already purchased work as they should, but they haven’t said for how long they’ll continue to support the devices.
Is it still available for purchase?
Yes, you can still buy it from their official website, plus they are now running a “Summer Sale” deal where you can get the $89.99 item for just $40.
Is Shopify’s Car Thing worth the money?
No. Car Thing does nothing but play your Spotify music. It is worthless because most new cars allow you to play anything, even Spotify, by connecting your phone via Bluetooth. It lacks features like navigation or other functions offered by modern car media players.
If you don’t have a media player that can connect to your phone, you should probably invest in a vehicle mount so you can place it to your dashboard and play Spotify music directly from it.
Source: Spotify Car Thing, TechCrunch, Android Police
