Spotify quietly discontinues Car Thing dashboard accessory

[Shawn Knight]

In brief: Well, that didn't take long. Roughly five months after making its voice-controlled smart player for vehicles available to the general public, Spotify has quietly discontinued the device. If you still want one, it's on sale at a substantial discount while supplies last.

Spotify started testing a voice-controlled device for cars back in 2019. Dubbed Car Thing, it was initially only available to a small group of invited Spotify Premium members in the US. The device represented Spotify's first foray into hardware although the company insisted it was more about learning how people listen to music and podcasts in their vehicles than an indication of a move into hardware.

A broader – yet still limited – rollout commenced in 2021 and this past February, Spotify made Car Thing a proper consumer device available to anyone (albeit with a $10 price hike).

In its latest earnings report published on July 27, Spotify quietly said its reported gross margin was negatively impacted by their decision to stop manufacturing Car Thing. Spotify recorded a one-time charge of €31 million ($31.4 million) associated with ending manufacturing.

A Spotify spokesperson told TechCrunch that a number of factors including product demand and supply chain issues contributed to their decision to halt production. Existing devices will continue to function normally, the person said, adding that the initiative unlocked helpful learnings [about listening habits in vehicles].

Curiously enough, Spotify is still offering Car Thing on its website at a deep discount. Normally $89.99, the gadget is on sale for $49.99 as part of Spotify's liquidation sale.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/95442-spotify-quietly-discontinues-car-thing-dashboard-accessory.html

 

[FaTaL]

Was a dumb idea to begin with in an ultra competitive market

 

[ferrellsl]

This is what happens when marketing people are allowed to design a device. The designers obviously never used the Spotify app on their phones or they would have seen that this device was redundant and who was the engineering flunky who decided to put a jog wheel that's so large on this device that it obscures the right side of the screen?

 

[Prrredictable]

I'll say this for whatever it's worth: I have an older model truck (2010) that handles everything I need it to handle. I simply don't want a car payment, and I could care less about having a luxuries in my vehicle, for the most part. In order to play Spotify in my truck, I use a wireless USB-Radio device. I don't have any sort of screen beyond a small LCD screen that displays the time. I welcomed the Car Thing, and use it daily. Works perfectly for what I wanted it for: a display screen so that I can see the song/album/artist that is playing.

 

[RudyBob]

So quietly I didn't even know the product existed