The Humane AI Pin’s returns are trumping the device’s sales. The AI wearable has faced problems ever since the product was initially announced, and while the company had hoped that its first round of dispatches would bring in positive responses from real users, the hopes never came to fruition. According to an extensive report by The Verge, Humane had managed to see over $9 million USD in lifetime sales, but over 1,000 orders were canceled before they could be shipped. More than $1 million USD worth of products were returned within the company’s 30-day return period.
Between May and August, the number of Pins that were returned exceeded the number sold. The Humane AI Pin’s sales have fallen short of company expectations and the additional returns appear to have been the final nail in the coffin for a product that was already suffering.
Image: The Humane AI Pin
The Number of Humane AI Pin Returns Are Very Worrying For the Company
Former Apple employees Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno had an ambitious plan and over $200 million USD from investors—the Humane AI Pin had seemed like a product that would revolutionize technology as we know it today. There were even talks that the device could replace our smartphones. That was probably one of the biggest flaws in the marketing of the AI Pin, as the general public immediately put their guard up against anything that was going to attempt to take away their phones.
Major Humane AI Pin Problems That Drove Customers Away
The scale of Humane AI Pin returns is quite significant. As stated by The Verge, by June, only 8,000 users had seen fit to keep the Pin, and their sources suggest that more recently, the number has almost fallen to 7,000 units. Despite the futuristic display that is projected onto the user’s palm and the gesture controls that speak to a very innovative device, users were unable to use it effectively nor see any room for it in their daily lives.
The $699 USD price tag and $24 USD subscription fee were enough to discourage curious users from giving the device a go, and others who were willing to try it realized there was a return policy that they could fall back on if need be. The initial negative reception from reviewers added to the poor perception of the clip-on assistant, and while top reviewer MKBHD got a lot of hate for calling it “the worst product” he had reviewed, he wasn’t the only one who didn’t think the product was ready for the market.
In addition to this, the AI Pin problems stemmed mainly from the issues with the device itself. According to MacRumors, the charging case that powered the Pin was found to be a fire hazard. The company took charge and immediately informed users to stop using the case accessory. Following that, all they did to make it up to those who had purchased the device was give them two months of free subscription access to their Pin. That may be $48 saved and you could still use the charging pad so the device was functional, but users were not happy.
The AI Pin also had problems with its performance itself. Some found the device to be too slow and others thought the laser projector needed to be more effective outdoors. Along with occasionally providing incorrect responses, the device wasn’t capable of lasting through the day and overheated when it was used to its full extent.
From Engadget’s summary of the issues with the AI Pin, getting an accurate response often required a lot of prompting and the end results were not satisfactory enough to warrant using the Pin at all. The Humane competitor Rabbit R1 gadget isn’t faring too well either so it hasn’t been a good year for AI devices as a whole. The Friend AI pendant is hoping to turn the tide but we’re not too optimistic about its chances either.
Image: The laser projection system with the Humane AI Pin
What Happens to Returned Products?
Now that the Humane AI Pin returns are stacking up, you might wonder about what happens to the returned products. Is there a way to buy second-hand devices at a cheaper price? Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem possible either.
The device cannot be refurbished and resold because of the T-Mobile connection that is required to run the device. Once assigned, the device reportedly cannot be reset and reassigned to another user, which essentially turns AI Pin’s return rate into a calculation of how much e-waste is stacking up at the company.
Humane has not dumped the products yet. The company hopes to find a solution to still make the most of its existing stock, but that solution might take a while to materialize.
Image: Humane
What’s Next for Humane?
The negative reception and decline in the Humane AI Pin sales have caused considerable issues within the company. Even before the company began shipping in April 2024, Humane had to lay off around 4 percent of its workforce. Key team members like the company CTO Patrick Gates and VP of Platform & Experience Software Jeremy Werner also stepped away from the company.
It later came to light that the company was looking for a buyer who might overlook the AI Pin’s sales decline and the many problems that it came with. The founders were hoping to sell the company for a price between $750 million to $1 billion USD. The New York Times indicated that HP was open to acquiring the company, but we haven’t heard more about any ongoing discussions since the initial report.
Despite the AI Pin’s many problems, the founders have repeatedly tried to ask the public to understand that the first generation of a product is never perfect and that a positive outlook is necessary for innovation. Conceptually, the Pin is innovative and has offered up a new product category for users and the tech industry to unitedly explore.
Despite that, it is clear that the Pin was not ready for launch and an additional year or two should have been spent on user-testing the products and changing some of the more problematic elements of the device.
Users who haven’t returned the Humane AI Pins yet are currently the best source we have on what has led them to hold on to the device and what the company has done right for them, but there aren’t as many positive voices among the vast concoction of negative ones. The Vision Pro faced a similar flood of returns after its launch, but Apple has its other products to fall back on to keep the company afloat. While the company works on the second generation of the headset and even a cheaper variant of the first one, it appears Humane may not be offered that same luxury.