Vaporware

In the field of Computer Technology “vaporware” or “vapourware”, pertains to the computer hardware of software made public, but is never really manufactured, made available for purchase, or even officially cancelled. The term had since gone to be used to other products such as automobiles. 

A vaporware is usually announced months or even years prior to its supposed release. The announcement discloses only a few details about the product. Developers have been alleged to intentionally promote vaporware so as to keep customers from switching to products that directly compete with what they are developing. 

Back in 1989, it had been claimed by popular print media outlets that the phenomena of vapoware had already become an “epidemic”. The press was actually blamed for not being able to investigate if the claims made developers are actually legitimate.