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View Full Version : iTunes Phone Flop’s Lessons


Jerry Raia
04-12-2006, 03:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=16447&hed=iTunes' target='_blank'>http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=16447&hed=iTunes</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The droopy sales of Motorola’s ROKR phone, the first iTunes phone, could teach the cell phone industry two key lessons, according to a study. Too much hype can kill interest in a new phone, particularly when it fails to meet expectations. Heavily promoted by Motorola, Apple, and Cingular before its release last September, the ROKR’s sales peaked in its first week on the shelves (see iTunes Phone, New iPod Debut)."</i><br /><br />Talk about over analysis. I almost got dizzy after reading this strained attempt to understand why the ROKR fell on its face (which by the way I predicted would happen). It really is just a useless device. I do have a question though. Aren't the kind of surveys and things mentioned in this article done before a device is made Mr. Motorola or do you just cook up stuff and hope it sticks?

mikestew
04-12-2006, 06:48 PM
Oh, I don't know about that. Sure, there was the usual "blah, blah, blah, it wasn't our fault, blah, blah, blah, we have to fill this analysis report a bit to earn our pay". But in the end, it came down to the 100 song limit on an otherwise non-descript phone. Surveys? Bah, they knew it was a problem up front, and &lt;some guy from Motorola> poo-pooed it with something like, "who needs more than 100 songs on their phone?" Answer: just about anyone who would be your market.

Mike Temporale
04-12-2006, 07:19 PM
"Too much hype can kill interest in a new phone, particularly when it fails to meet expectations.

This line really grabbed me. It's like they know that over hyping something can cause damage, yet they continue to push the Q before it's ready. It just appeared on some talk show over the weekend. It's almost like they can't keep quite about it. Well, if it's as good as expected, then maybe I'll understand. ;)

Mike Temporale
04-12-2006, 07:21 PM
&lt;some guy from Motorola> poo-pooed it with something like, "who needs more than 100 songs on their phone?" Answer: just about anyone who would be your market.

Actually, I heard it was Apple's limitation. Regardless, someone should have saw this as a fundamental issue and stopped things at that point.

Ryan Joseph
04-12-2006, 07:44 PM
It's like they know that over hyping something can cause damage, yet they continue to push the Q before it's ready. It just appeared on some talk show over the weekend. It's almost like they can't keep quite about it. Well, if it's as good as expected, then maybe I'll understand. ;)

I'm sure you guys all know this already, but the Q was on the cover of the latest Popular Science (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/archive/b925ef7af491a010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html)! Crazy...

Rocco Augusto
04-12-2006, 10:12 PM
the real problem with the E1 and the L7 is this- they're ugly, they're slow, they're crippled, they're motorola's ;)

leslietroyer
04-12-2006, 10:41 PM
My son (13) got the SLVR. He said the 100 song limt is a factor - he never runs out of memory before hitting the limit. But he does like it for the bus ride to and from school - he only needs to carry one device. He uses his Nano when he needs music. It might be a good device if all you want are podcasts while using public transit to/from work.

Les