Can TikTok’s maker succeed where Facebook and Amazon failed?

ByteDance is joining tech giants like Facebook, Amazon and Alibaba with their own branded handset, but will it work?

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Can TikTok’s maker succeed where Facebook and Amazon failed?

Masha Borak

Published: 10:08pm, 30 Jul 2019Updated: 9:10am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

TikTok-creator ByteDance is now the latest software company trying to find success in hardware with its very own smartphone.

China’s viral king ByteDance is the first major Chinese tech player that made a mark on the world

The company announced the phone on Monday, but the device had been rumored for a while. ByteDance bought patents this year from troubled smartphone maker Smartisan, whose fridge-smashing founder famously boasted of making the best smartphones in the world.

But ByteDance's idea is hardly original. Remember Amazon’s Fire Phone? If not, don’t worry. Amazon would probably like you to forget, too.

So in celebration of ByteDance’s new hardware venture, here is a look at how other tech companies around the world tried cashing in on their names by launching smartphones -- and failed.

The Facebook phone

These days, the idea of carrying around a smartphone made by Facebook would seem like a nightmare to the modern, privacy-conscious consumer. But back in 2013, Facebook’s name hadn’t been tarred by scandal and was still seen as a potential tool for good that helped people organize protests and revolutions.

OK, it wasn’t a great idea at the time either. (Picture: HTC)

So the social network decided to join hands with HTC to create a phone that would put Facebook apps at the forefront of the user experience with an Android launcher called Facebook Home. The HTC First was meant for hardcore social media users.

Unfortunately for Facebook, no one was all that keen on being constantly updated about the minutiae of their friends’ online lives. It didn’t help that the phone had mediocre capabilities, according to critics. In the end, HTC First’s price dropped from US$99 to 99 cents within a month (which HTC and AT&T said was a promotion). In December 2013, Time called the HTC First one of the "lamest moments in tech" that year. Ouch.

It wasn’t a total loss for Facebook, though. If you use the Facebook Messenger app, you might notice the last remnants of Facebook Home still lingering in the form of Chat Heads. The feature that allows chat bubbles to float over other apps was introduced with Facebook Home and has somehow managed to survive into the age of smartwatches and voice assistants.