Hot Rumor: Apple to Kill Ping Social Media Platform

It’s not often that Apple has an epic fail in terms of products or software.

But Ping – the social media service launched and operated by the tech giant – is definitely on the short list of Apple inventions that simply didn’t resonate with the masses.

As a result, sources close to the iPhone maker say that Apple will effectively kill the entire Ping platform in a subsequent iTunes update before 2012 comes to a close.

From All Things D:

Sources close to the company say that Ping, which still exists today in iTunes 10.6.3 and the iOS 6 beta — where it doesn’t work, will be gone with the software’s next major release, likely scheduled for this fall. And at that point Apple’s social networking offerings will shift to Twitter and new partner Facebook entirely.

Of course, the writing was seemingly on the wall for the two-year-old service when Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed Ping during a recent D10 interview.

“We tried Ping, and I think the customer voted and said ‘This isn’t something that I want to put a lot of energy into,’” Cook told the press.

Will you be disappointed to see Ping go? Please leave a thought or comment below.