Motorola iTunes ROKR phone called a "flop"
updated 07:55 am EDT, Mon October 24, 2005
iTunes ROKR phone
Motorola's iTunes ROKR phone is being by one analyst based on its high-return rate and slow sales. A survey of distributors, call center workers, and retailers, found the phones have a much higher return rate than other new phones. "As many as six times more customers are returning the Rokr phones than is normal for new handsets, according to American Technology Research analyst Albert Lin." Motorola Executive Officer Ed Zander blames the high return rate and customer dissatisfaction on poor marketing says he plans to fix it, according to Bloomberg. "We got off to a little bit of a rough start," Zander said in an interview after Motorola reported on Oct. 18 that third- quarter profit tripled, driven by more-popular phones such as the Razr. "People were looking for an iPod and that's not what it is. We may have missed the marketing message there."
yeah
10/24, 08:11am reply
Duh of course its a flop. Any new phone can play music files, the only thing thats different about this phone is that the music GUI looks like an ipod's gui. And its got "WOW" stereo headphones. Its a lame piece of s*** and I'm glad my carrier doesn't offer it.
l008com
Professional Poster
Joined: Jan 2000
Motorola unreliable?
10/24, 08:37am reply
Whoda thunk? Wasn't Motorola always at the cutting edge in (PPC) processor performance and couldn't Apple always count on them to reflect the best on apple products?
Oh. Nevuh mind...
Love Calm Quiet
Mac Elite
Joined: Mar 2001
the reason..
10/24, 11:22am reply
The reason for poor sales is because it doesn't hold more then 100 songs? They don't say for sure why people return these. Do they break, not work or don't hold that many songs? If it's the 100 song limit, isn't that stated in all of their ads? I mean come on.
KidRed
Professional Poster
Joined: Mar 2001
STNKR
10/24, 12:10pm reply
It sucks because it can only hold 100 songs, you can't buy songs from it, and it's a stupid phone, not an iPod.
Eriamjh
Addicted to MacNN
Joined: Oct 2001
REAL SIMPLE
10/24, 01:24pm reply
IT'S UGLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mlowe969
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2002
Outdone by my old phone
10/24, 10:11pm reply
My Audiovox Thera - almost four years old - can do some things better than the ROKR. I can fill any SD card with mp3s and play it with the Media Player. No 100-song limit here, and the included wired remote control lets me play, pause, go to next and previous tracks, change volume, stop, and send and end calls without taking the phone out of my bag. Plus it's a full-fledged PDA. Why should I "upgrade?"
Titanium Man
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2001
Not really a flop
10/24, 10:26pm reply
Ed Zander is at least honest. There was a high return rates because people thought it was an iPod Phone rather than a phone with iTunes. I think the marketing of the product was fine and clear cut. A redesign of the phone is in order. If it took on the white appearance, slim features, user interface, easy navigation, 500 song limit, and the price was adjusted to $150 than it would be a hit. They need to work with Apple in hardware design and software design. Apple could even market it for them since it fits between the iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano.
ApeInTheShell
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2002