Report: HTC First Facebook Phone to Be Discontinued

From DailyTech: AT&T announced only a few days ago that it was cutting the price of the HTC First phone with Facebook Home from $99 to $.99 with a new contract. At the same time the wireless carrier also announced that the off-contract price of the device would drop from $450 to $350. That move was apparently an attempt to clear stock as sources claim AT&T will discontinue the HTC First.

According to Boy Genius Report, sales of the HTC First are so abysmal that AT&T decided to cancel the phone not long after it launched. All unsold inventory left in AT&T stores around the country will reportedly be returned to HTC. BGR cites sources that claim AT&T sold fewer than 15,000 HTC First smartphones nationwide through last week even though the phone was priced at only $.99.

Facebook Home has received its share of criticism with many calling it a product needing some serious attention. Other reports indicate that sales staff at AT&T stores don't like Facebook Home or the HTC First and have made little effort to sell the handset to customers.

Currently, the biggest selling devices on the AT&T network -- by a large margin -- are the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S 4.

HTC has a contract with AT&T meaning that AT&T can't pull its in-store display for the First until the contract expires. It's unclear exactly when that promotion will end and when AT&T will pull the device off store shelves. The fact that HTC paid big money for advertising in AT&T stores in the device is still unable to sell says a lot about how consumers view HTC and Facebook Home.

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