AT&T Unfriends Facebook Home

updated at 11:27 a.m. on May 14 with details about the preview of a coming update to Facebook Home 

HTC First, also known as the Facebook Phone, was the first phone to feature Facebook Home preinstalled, the app-cum-operating system that put Facebook on the phone's home screen.

The appeal was supposed to be the ability to "put your friends first." But shoppers appear to be putting the phone last.

Within a month after its launch at the competitive price of $99, AT&T discounted it to 99 cents. Today, the BGR tech blog reported that AT&T has decided to discontinue the phone altogether, after selling fewer than 15,000 units during its first month on the market. (BGR's story was contradicted by AT&T's PR department who initially declined to comment and then put out a statement that it had "made no decisions on future plans.")

The Facebook Home software, which is available as a free download, is doing better, but it is far from a blockbuster success. While Facebook Home has surpassed one million downloads at the Google Play store, more than 16,000 people rate it an average of two stars, complaining of  battery drain and usability problems.

"I installed it for a few hours and then deleted it with extreme prejudice," wrote Nizar Senussi. "The whole concept of a Facebook-centric phone is the flaw."

Josh Constine, writing at TechCrunch, blames the flop on the fact that Facebook Home development team were diehard iPhone users who failed to appreciate features that Android users take for granted, like the ability to organize apps into folders or put popular apps into a dock. The initial version of Home overwrote a user's widgets, dock and folders. Last week, Facebook addressed some of the criticisms with a preview of a new and improved version of Home that would let  a user import their existing dock or create a new one.

Embarrassment aside, the Facebook Home fiasco is unlikely to seriously derail Facebook's mobile efforts. Distimo, an app analytics company, which shows developers how well their apps rank in different app stores, ranks Facebook's mobile app #1 in the US on the Android operating system, with Facebook messenger coming in at #5. International rankings are also strong, with Facebook's mobile app ranking in the top five in countries like the United Kingdom, Brazil, India and Indonesia on Android or iOS, as well as in dozens of other countries.

Senussi's review seems to sum up the feelings of millions: "I want a phone that runs Facebook when I want it to, not a Facebook phone."