Blogger Marques Brownlee launched an app for selling phone wallpapers at $12 per month, but he was unsuccessful.

Closing of Panels: Why the High-Subscription Cost App Could Not Find Its Consumer

Marques Brownlee, a well-known technology blogger and reviewer, announced the closure of his app Panels after a year of unsuccessful attempts to capture the market. The high subscription cost and privacy issues became the main reasons for the project’s failure.

In September 2024, American tech reviewer Marques Brownlee launched the Panels app, which offered access to a collection of high-quality phone wallpapers. The subscription cost was $11.99 per month or $50 per year, significantly higher than the cost of many popular services such as Netflix. Despite Brownlee’s significant popularity in tech circles and the interest of his followers, the app was unable to attract a large number of users.

The main reasons for the failure were the high prices and privacy issues. Many users noted that for such an amount, a free alternative could be found. Additionally, Panels faced criticism regarding data collection, which also negatively affected the project’s reputation. Throughout the year, the team working on developing the app frequently changed, complicating stable development.

The app reached about 900,000 downloads and earned approximately $95,000, but this was insufficient to support the project. Panels will officially cease operations on December 31, 2025. In response to the failure, Brownlee promises to refund users with active annual subscriptions and publish the program code in open access.

Interestingly, this is not the first such case in the technology market. In January 2024, the Artifact service from the founders of Instagram shut down a year after launch, and the social app IRL, which was valued at $200 million, closed its operations after an internal investigation revealed predominantly bots among users.

Many experts emphasize the importance of understanding the market and consumer needs before launching new products, especially when it comes to paid services.