Humane's AI pin was roughly received. Functionally a tiny Android device without a screen, its unique UI called for a level of reliability that isn't there yet with voice assistants, leading to frustration for users and "scathing" reviews. And returns. Lots and lots of returns, reports Kyle Robison.
Between May and August, more AI Pins were returned than purchased, according to internal sales data obtained by The Verge. By June, only around 8,000 units hadn't been returned, a source with direct knowledge of sales and return data told me. As of today, the number of units still in customer hands had fallen closer to 7,000, a source with direct knowledge said.
The company raised hundreds of millions but has only sold $9m-worth of gadgets so far—and there's a whole bunch of things that it needs to do better quickly if a second-gen is to land better. Robison reports that the company can't even refurbish those that are send back to it because the bundled and necessary cellular accounts can't be reassigned.
Once a Humane Pin is returned, the company has no way to refurbish it, sources with knowledge of the return process confirmed. The Pin becomes e-waste, and Humane doesn't have the opportunity to reclaim the revenue by selling it again. The core issue is that there is a T-Mobile limitation that makes it impossible (for now) for Humane to reassign a Pin to a new user once it's been assigned to someone. One source said they don't believe Humane has disposed of the old Pins because "they're still hopeful they can solve this problem eventually." T-Mobile declined to comment and referred us to Humane.
The competition isn't doing much better, though: I like everything about the Rabbit except everything it actually does. When they turn up by the boxload on eBay for $20 each, then I'm going to go to town on it.
