Dead tech, by the numbers
Computed live from 269 documented projects. Cite freely with a link (CC BY 4.0).
Shutdowns per year
Every year from 1995 to 2026, quiet ones included. The worst was 2017, which took 29 of the 266 shutdowns on record.
Average lifespan by category
| Category | Projects | Average lifespan |
|---|---|---|
| Storage & Media Formats | 4 | 20.6 years |
| Media Players | 2 | 14.7 years |
| Messengers | 15 | 12.4 years |
| Web Technologies & Tools | 12 | 12.2 years |
| Reference & Learning | 5 | 12.1 years |
| Online Services | 21 | 11.9 years |
| Desktop Software | 10 | 11.8 years |
| Operating Systems | 11 | 11.7 years |
| Search Engines & Directories | 5 | 11.3 years |
| Blogging & Web Publishing | 8 | 11.0 years |
| E-commerce & Retail | 10 | 10.0 years |
| Web Browsers | 6 | 9.6 years |
| File Sharing | 14 | 9.0 years |
| Developer Tools | 7 | 8.6 years |
| Photo Sharing | 5 | 8.5 years |
| Game Platforms & Services | 9 | 8.2 years |
| Email & Groups | 6 | 7.3 years |
| Gadgets & Hardware | 10 | 7.0 years |
| Social Networks | 21 | 5.9 years |
| VR & AR | 5 | 5.7 years |
| Video & Streaming | 18 | 5.6 years |
| Mobile Apps | 16 | 5.4 years |
| Music Streaming | 8 | 5.3 years |
| Consoles & Handhelds | 16 | 5.3 years |
| Games | 10 | 5.0 years |
| Phones & Tablets | 12 | 3.9 years |
Who killed the most projects
Owner at the time of shutdown.
- Google 47 projects
- Microsoft 37 projects
- Nintendo 6 projects
- Apple 6 projects
- Yahoo 4 projects
- Sega 4 projects
- Amazon 4 projects
- AOL 4 projects
- Twitter 3 projects
- Sony Computer Entertainment 3 projects
Causes of death
Shortest lives
- Concord 14 days
- HP TouchPad 48 days
- Google Lively 176 days
- Boo.com 197 days
- Quibi 239 days
Longest lives
- Floppy disk 40.2 yrs
- AOL Dial-Up 34.0 yrs
- MiniDisc 32.3 yrs
- CompuServe 29.8 yrs
- Blockbuster 28.2 yrs
Acquisition to shutdown
On average, an acquired project in this database survived 4.1 years after its last acquisition (n=100).