Spotify Stops Making Dash-Mounted 'Car Thing' Just Five Months After Launch

Spotify has unceremoniously stopped making the dash-mounted "Car Thing," its first hardware device, the company announced this week.

spotify car thing 1
The change was announced as part of Spotify's latest earnings release for shareholders, which said that developing the Car Thing cost €31 million (approximately $32 million USD) and that its overall gross margin was "negatively impacted by our decision to stop manufacturing Car Thing." Spotify told TechCrunch:

Based on several factors, including product demand and supply chain issues, we have decided to stop further production of Car Thing units. Existing devices will perform as intended. This initiative has unlocked helpful learnings, and we remain focused on the car as an important place for audio.

Announced in April last year, the short-lived device first went on sale in the United States in February for $89.99. It was designed to be an in-car dash-mounted music and podcast player to provide a more seamless and personalized listening experience, especially in the large number of cars that do not support modern in-car infotainment systems or Apple CarPlay.

Paired with an iOS or Android device for data and connection to the Spotify app, the Car Thing was aimed at Spotify Premium subscribers with these needs and offered a touchscreen, a knob for navigation, voice control features, and four user-configurable buttons for fast access to areas such as favorite music, podcasts, or playlists.

Tag: Spotify

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Top Rated Comments

SwiftArtery Avatar
32 months ago


Attachment Image
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IIGS User Avatar
32 months ago
And now the CueCat can rest in peace, knowing it is no longer the biggest flop in history.



Rest easy, CueCat. Rest easy. Car thing can can take it from here.....

Attachment Image
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BootsWalking Avatar
32 months ago
Based on several factors, including product demand and supply chain issues, we have decided to stop further production of Car Thing units.

How can you have supply chain issues for a product nobody is buying?
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tweaknmod Avatar
32 months ago
I've seen a few people use these as dedicated desktop music controllers, which I thought was kinda cool.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gaximus Avatar
32 months ago
I'm shocked, thought this extra screen in the car that provides a single app that exists on my phone would be a huge hit. /s
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazmac Avatar
32 months ago
2004 wanted their devices back?

Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)