Facebook's first big flop? AT&T reportedly discontinues HTC First in US

Little over one month after Facebook Home's flagship device was unveiled to the world's press, it appears the HTC first dubbed the Facebook Phone by many has flopped at retail.

The Android-based device, which runs a Facebook skin designed to enable users to tap into the social network wherever they happen to be in the OS, hit stores on 12 April.

However, following a price-cut back at the start of May, Boy Genius Report claims the US's largest carrier AT&T has canned the device, and is in the process of returning unsold units to HTC.

'Shockingly bad'

The website cites a "trusted source" as claiming that sales have been in BGR's words - "shockingly bad", with a reported 15,000 units having been sold across the US after the phone's price was slashed to 99c.

Interestingly, the reasoning behind said slow sales appears to be a lack of enthusiasm from retail staff, who much prefer the higher margins of the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4, which are pushed heavily.

The site claims its source stated AT&T staff are making "little if any effort" to sell the device to consumers.

Going home

Despite the apparent demise of the HTC First, however, Facebook Home lives on, with Android owners able to download and install the skin voluntarily.

Numbers sourced from Google Play peg downloads at 1 million around one month after launch, with demand apparently dropping.

Facebook Home took just 10 days to hit an initial 500,000 downloads, with the last half a million downloads taking around twice as long to amass.

[source: Boy Genius Report]