Keurig's cold drink maker was a wildly complicated, multi-million dollar piece of tech - and that's why it flopped
Less than a year after it launched, the brand is discontinuing the machine. Consumers who already purchased a Keurig Kold - a $370 machine that creates carbonated, chilled beverages - can get a full refund from the company.
Keurig Kold's ability to deliver a carbonated, chilled beverage in 90 seconds without using a CO2 canister was intended to give the Kold an edge over rivals like SodaStream.
There was lot of technology - and money - behind the device, which launch last September. Keurig filed more than 50 patents, and has another 100 applications pending, over the course of five years as it developed the system. The company invested about $100 million in the device in fiscal 2015, and said in September it planned to spend a similar amount in 2016.
But critics of the Kold were been quick to point out some big flaws in the device: it's expensive, large, needs to get warmed up, and isn't any more convenient than popping open a soda, according to complaints on Keurig's website and Facebook page.
Business Insider took a closer look at the device in December to see just how complex the Kold is. A look back also helps explain why it cost so much, and why Keurig was never able to fully solve the problems that plagued the device.