http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/...-discontinued/
Man, this is bad for HTC, they are struggling, and now they have just broken the record for the fastest cellphone flop in history. Rumors say that the phone sold less than 15000 units! Probably not even enough profit to pay for the marketing and launch party.
Here is the interesting thing, of all the social media focused phones, there has only been one major success (sidekick), the other ones (HTC status/chacha, Microsoft Kin, HTC First) were all horrible flops.
Now why did the sidekick succeed where the others failed? The "facebook obsessed" generation is mainly comprised of preteens and young teenagers. The sidekick was a hit, because it was cheap. The others were failures, because they were "full priced". For that kind of price, why buy a facebook phone when you can buy a proper phone?
PS: I know there are lots of people here who are interested in a smaller, cutting edge android. The HTC First is actually a very competent cheap and small android device. You can turn off the facebook customizations in 2 minutes, very easily. I would actually say, if you are looking for a cheap, solid, smaller android, pick up the HTC First at the inevitable fire sale.