Windows Phone Thoughts: The Inside Story on The Demise of KIN

"To get anywhere, a project inside Microsoft needs an executive sponsor, and for Pink, Allard had been that guy from day one. It was his baby. Of course, Allard was a visionary, an idea man; Lees -- like most Microsoft execs -- is a no-nonsense numbers guy, and to put it bluntly, he didn't like that Pink existed. To quote our sources, Lees was "jealous," and he was likely concerned that Kin was pulling mindshare (and presumably resources) from Windows Mobile's roadmap. With enough pressure, Lees ended up getting his way; Pink fell under his charge and Allard was forced into the background."

A fascinating story that certainly explains much of what we saw when KIN came to market - all of the complaining we did about the high data plan prices? The KIN team knew that it would severely hamper their product; so did Verizon. It's a classic case of internal politics and corporate "silos". Definitely worth a read. Oh KIN, we hardly knew ye...