Special Report

Brands That Will Disappear in 2020

Oli Scarff / Getty Images

According to the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment, Americans appear more comfortable with their finances — and more willing to spend money — than they were at the same time last year. In the midst of the holiday season, this comes as welcome news for corporations looking to profit off the largest consumer-driven economy in the world. Still, despite favorable conditions, American consumer trends come and go, and the days are numbered for several major products and brands. 

24/7 Wall St. reviewed media reports, financial statements, and company press releases to determine the 10 brands that will disappear in 2020. The brands on this list include vehicles, computer software, a retailer, television programs, and a media company. 

Many of the brands and products that will not survive 2020 fell short of the expectations that their parent companies and consumers had placed in them. Their shortcomings stem from a range of causes, but the results are the same — a failure to catch on with American consumers. Here is a look at the 25 biggest product flops of the last 10 years

Not all products on this list were total failures, however. New technology develops, inevitably rendering older products obsolete. For example, the two pieces of computer software on this list were once tremendous successes and have simply been replaced by newer software. Here is a look at how technology has changed the world since 2010

Whatever the explanation, the brands on this list will become a part of history within the coming year. Some of the brands and products on this list stopped being produced in 2019, but will still be available into the new year as supplies last. In other cases, production is slated to end in 2020. This list is by no means an exhaustive list of brands and products that will disappear in 2020, but they are a selection of some of the most notable departures.

Click here to see the brands that will disappear in 2020

Adobe

1. Adobe Flash

In 2020, Adobe Flash Media Player, the once-ubiquitous browser plug-in, will be no more. Once the standard medium for streaming rich content like videos online, Flash Player has been rendered nearly obsolete by modern browser technology. It has also been beset with glitches and security vulnerabilities in recent years. According to Google, as recently as three years ago, 80% of people using the Chrome browser went to a website that used Flash. Today, the share is just 17%.

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Volkswagen of America

2. Volkswagen Beetle

The final VW Beetle rolled off production lines in 2019. After being introduced more than 80 years ago, the German automaker halted production of its iconic compact vehicle. The announcement comes as the popularity of SUVs and crossover vehicles is surging among American motorists. After hitting a six-year high of over 43,000 units sold in 2013, Beetle sales fell every year since.

Marvel

3. Marvel Television

Marvel Television, the TV-focused division of production giant Marvel Studios, will be closing down operations in 2020. The company will not develop any new projects, and any shows currently in production will now fall under the direction of Marvel Studios. The news comes after Netflix announced the cancellation of two Marvel shows on its platform: “Jessica Jones” and “The Punisher.” New Marvel content will likely be available exclusively on parent company Disney’s new streaming platform.

4. A.C. Moore

Arts and crafts retailer A.C. Moore is one of several brick-and-mortar chain stores planning to shutter all locations in 2020. The company’s 145 locations are located primarily on the East Coast. Former rival, arts and crafts store Michael’s, will take over 40 former A.C. Moore locations.

A company spokesperson attributes the closure to the store’s inability to compete at a national level. A.C. Moore was in business for about three and a half decades.

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Sony Playstation

5. PS Vue

PlayStation Vue, an online television streaming service, will be discontinued by the end of January 2020. Losing money since its launch in 2015, the service has never been as successful as competitors like YouTube and Sling, which had far more subscribers than the half a million PS Vue reportedly had at its height.

Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images

6. Will & Grace

The final episode of the long-running NBC sitcom “Will & Grace” will air in 2020. The sitcom followed an unusual trajectory, first airing in 1998 and lasting for eight seasons until 2006. The show returned in 2017 for a ninth season, and the series will end next year with the eleventh season. After the final season, the show will have run for 246 episodes. “Will & Grace,” which centered around two gay men, was groundbreaking for its portrayal of LGBTQ issues.

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Giuseppe Cacace / Getty Images

7. Fiat 500

Italian automaker Fiat brought its 500 model — a compact car designed to compete with the Volkswagen Beetle — to the American market in 2011. Initially a relative success, the Fiat 500’s fortunes quickly changed. Fiat sold 46,999 units of its 500 model to American motorists in 2012. Sales fell by 22.6% the following year and continued to fall every year since. In September 2019, the company announced plans to discontinue the car in the United States. At the time, the company had sold less than 2,600 500 models in 2019.

NBCUniversal Media

8. Sunnyside

Sunnyside, an NBC sitcom that premiered in late September, will not return to network television in 2020. The show, a comedy starring Hollywood veteran Kal Penn, was the lowest rated of the over a dozen shows that premiered on major networks around the same time. NBC only aired four of the series’ 11 episodes and the remaining episodes will be available for online streaming only.

9. Infiniti QX30

Crossovers and SUVs are surging in popularity with American motorists. But even in such favorable market conditions, some of those vehicles are doomed to fail. One such failure is Infiniti’s QX30, which, after just four years on the market, will not be renewed for the 2020 model year. The Japanese automaker sold about 14,000 QX30s in the U.S. in 2017. Sales fell to about 8,000 the following year and about 3,000 so far in 2019. Nissan, Infiniti’s parent company, cited the weak sales as a reason to kill the model. Dealerships will continue to sell 2019 QX30s into 2020 as long as supplies last.

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Oli Scarff / Getty Images

10. Windows 7

Windows 7, one of the most popular operating systems in history, will no longer be supported by Microsoft in 2020. Windows 7 was introduced in 2009 and eventually became the most widely used Windows system in the world. The OS remained in the top spot for three and a half years after Windows 10 was released, finally yielding to its successor at the end of 2018, when it held 36.9% of market share compared to Windows 10’s 39.2% share.

When Microsoft pulls support for Windows 7 on Jan. 14, 2020, the system will still work for those using it, but it could become vulnerable to security risks.

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