“We tried Ping and I think the customer voted and said this isn’t something I want to put a lot of energy into,” said Cook in an interview at the yearly All Things Digital D Conference in southern California Tuesday evening.
When asked if Apple will kill the service, Cook responded by saying simply, “I don’t know. We’ll look at that.”
The conversation was the first time Apple has recognized that Ping, unlike its other products, may in fact not be a success.
Apple introduced Ping along with iTunes 10 in September of 2010. The music-centric social network was built into iTunes and allows you to follow your friends just as you might on other social networks and check out what tunes they’re listening to. You can also follow bands on the service to keep track of new music, and check out album charts, concert listings, and news.
Ping surpassed over 1 million users during its first few days on the market, but the excitement for the social network quickly fizzled out afterwards.
Before answering the question Tuesday evening, Cook mentioned that he had been avoiding the topic of Ping, something that Apple itself appears to have been doing almost since Ping’s launch.
