Motorola iTunes ROKR phone called a "flop"

Motorola's iTunes ROKR phone is being called flop 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."

Filed under: industry
Other story tags: digital music/video