Spotify’s less than-best quarter can partly be blamed on a decision to exit the hardware business as part of their earnings date the streaming service company has just revealed that they have stopped manufacturing their Car Thing player, as the company spokesperson said that this decision was taken after several factors that included customer demand and supply chain issues they were facing.

Existing Car Thing units will continue to work as expected, and the company also said that they still unlocked helpful learnings from the device despite its brief history and that the car remained an important place for audio. You can still buy the Car Thing for $50 right now. Spotify first shared the product back in 2019, but it reached the broader public early this year after months of invitation sales. It was a Spotify player for cars that did not get streaming functionality, and it would serve as an informative experiment. or the company’s low demand would not be surprising as they were probably bracing for it as this was a very small niche.

Many cars can currently access Spotify directly through Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, or any built-in apps. Car thing was only helpful for people with older vehicles who wanted a music streaming upgrade, but they did not want to mount their phone on the dash every time they got in the car. This cancellation comes despite many other positive signs the company shows as they are free and paid listener bases that are still growing to 433 million and 188 million users. The company shifting toward audiobooks and podcasts is paying dividends by lowering the relative cost of music labeled royalties, car things dismissed theoretically help Spotify focus on those successes and brace itself for a widely expected global recession.