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SHOCKR: ROKR Not Selling Well

Wireless

from the who-needs-vowels dept

Thu, Oct 6th 2005 11:34am — Carlo Longino
This is sort of anti-climactic, and not surprising at all, but an analyst report says Motorola's iTunes phone isn't selling well. While other Motorola phones are seeing good sales, the firm says people are disappointed in the product -- again, not a surprise. One dealer, who says the ROKR doesn't have "the look", says he's sold one in four weeks, compared to 25 of Motorola's popular RAZR handset. Again, the point is simple: you make a crappy phone, nobody's going to want to buy it.
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15 Comments

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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2005 @ 11:52am

    No Subject Given

    I'll give you a shocker, Carlo!

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    achacha, 6 Oct 2005 @ 11:54am

    Motorola...

    I have been disappointed in everything comercial that I have owned made by Motorola. 2 cell phones, both were abusmal and barely usable. Landline phone got as a gift had the worst UI I have ever seen, threw it away and bought a 10$ cheapo phone that actually worked. ComCast digital cable receiver, one of the worst UIs ever, nothing worked intuitively, everything was a hassle, manual sucked. And now the worst of the all, the Motorola DVR by ComCast, this product is so poorly designed that you can't record a show at a given time, you have to ask it to record a show by name then when you specify first run it record everything and in the mornign you have 10 copies of same rerun that actually blocked you from recording anything else (I had both Tivo an dthe DVR from The Dish and both were light years ahead); there are so many example with this DVR it's not funny, I can't wait until I figure out how to get the dish working in the new place. I am not surprised this new Motorola product is abysmal, I read the reviews and critics were complaining about the UI and I knew it was the usual stuff. I think Motorola needs to look at the process they use for designing consumer devices and change it, a lot.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    UCFmethod, 6 Oct 2005 @ 1:05pm

    Motorola Sucks

    One of the most annoying features of Motorola phones is the fact that the dial and hangup buttons are reversed compared to most all other cell phone makers. Motorola, are you stupid, or just plain dumb?

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    alex, 6 Oct 2005 @ 2:02pm

    No Subject Given

    And how much do they pay these MBA analyst with such keen insight to the obvious? Hrmmm maybe I should start looking into switching career....Analyst: Why Sony Qualia failed.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Einstein, 6 Oct 2005 @ 2:33pm

    Re: Motorola...

    I have tip for you which may help you avoid these Moto woes in the future: DONT BUY MOTO AGAIN.

    I hope that helps.

    Thanks,

    Einstein

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2005 @ 2:40pm

    No Subject Given

    could it be that only 100 songs are allowed ?
    more space for songs be handy.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Aleks Y., 6 Oct 2005 @ 3:04pm

    Well ofcourse!

    The phone looks nothing like the Razr or the iPod. So the physical appeal is right out the window. What you have left is the music. Only 100 songs? Thats it? Is that even enough comparing to 60Gig iPods? To me 4Gig is enough, and thats 600 solid songs for me. But 100 is really nothing to be excited about. Next stop; Rokr that looks like razor and has 4Gig memory. Until then I got my black Razr on my hip and my Nano in my pocket. I just have to keep it separated - atleast for now.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Mike, 6 Oct 2005 @ 4:02pm

    Re: Motorola Sucks

    I have TWO Motorola cell phones 1 work & 1 home The Answer and End buttons are reversed between the two of them....Argg

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    DGK12, 6 Oct 2005 @ 4:10pm

    No Subject Given

    Palm suffers more than 10 years in the industry, surviving on the small niche they've carved out. First it was the people who wanted the next cool thing, now its those who actually know how to make it useful. PDAs are just not attractive to those who can't find a use for them that would be worth the money.

    MP3 player are also a trendy niche where people who use them buy them. Its a given that people who don't use them don't want them or own them. I won't argue exceptions.

    Cell Phones are 30 years into history and people who use them have them. If you want to make a cell phone that appeals to both cell-phone users and portable-music-players then you have to do both equally well without adding to the cost or taking away from the form-factor. Fail to do it and you will not have any customers, because its paying too much for a half-useful product.
    And most importantly, since MP3 players are a niche product, failing to top current MP3 players will only make the product less attractive.

    Fun and games, but the games still need to be fun. Did they even address battery concerns?

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2005 @ 5:26pm

    Re: No Subject Given

    I don't know, how much do they pay you, Alex.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Robert, 6 Oct 2005 @ 7:03pm

    Hows it going

    Ok well I work at the #1 connection center in wal-mart top sellers for cingular. I'm also a cingular customer myself and a big tech nerd. The Rokr is a huge disappointment it has no style limited menu selection. I would rather use my palm treo with removable flash memory then use something that holds on 100 songs. We have not sold a rokr even with all the advertisements that we post we even went to the extent of using wal-marts closed circuit TV's and expressed the greatness of this item still no slaes since it's release. It's very unapealing to the consumer eye oh well looks like back to the drawing board for apple. I would suggest to them to create a flip phone the size of the nano that has a push button open and alot of anomatronic features.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    fuzzmanmatt, 6 Oct 2005 @ 9:14pm

    Re: Hows it going

    Well, I see your problem Robert, you work at Wal*Mart. I hope you buy soap, because you're probably not skinny, and your cats make such a mess...

    Sorry, I hate Wal*Mart. I hate Windows. I hate people who think that the ROKR could have actually come from Apple. It's a Moto phone with iTunes on it. Saying it's an Apple phone is like saying that the HP machines that were sold with iTunes pre-installed were from Apple. They weren't, they were from HP, and the ROKR is from MOTO. If Apple were to intro a phone (hahaha! Yeah, that's a good business to be a newcomer. HA!) it would be awesome, but getting a carrier to support it is not a very likely situation.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Jose Cortes, 6 Oct 2005 @ 10:50pm

    Re: Hows it going

    ""fuzzmanmatt "" Dude, you got a lot of hate going on, chill out.
    The ROKR concept was not bad, but come on, a phone and an mp3 player in one? That's not a very attractive market for most people. I own a Razr and an iPOD and I'm very happy with both. But I would not mix them into one product, I't would to expensive to have a great phone and mp3 player in one. And as far a APPLE making a phone, well it most likely be a great looking and dependable product, the cost of that product would be the only thing to worry. ;-)

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    spam, 7 Oct 2005 @ 1:43pm

    I'm going to buy one

    I like the ROKR, actually. I don't often make phone calls, but I have my iPod Shuffle. The ROKR means that I can carry around 1 device only, as I am required to have my cell phone on for my day job.

    I think that the ROKR is a decent product. Also consider that it might not be selling well right now because in order to get new hardware, you have to agree to a lengthy service agreement. Lucky if customer care will give you $50 off, too. The newer phones are expensive. The reason that the RAZR is selling so well is because it's becoming the new free phone they give you if you agree to a 2 year service agreement.
    People aren't replacing their phones as often either.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Michael Spencer, 10 Oct 2005 @ 4:20pm

    Re: I'm going to buy one

    Hmmm.
    Actually lots of folks think it's a bad combination. But I like to listen to the overnight talk shows [Coast to Coast] when I am driving around. This thing is perfect for me.
    Problem, though: the thing just plain sucks.
    I'll wait.

    [ link to this | view in thread ]


Women Still Represent An Untapped Market For Mobile Content
Mobile Internet No Longer "Bloody Expensive", Just Expensive
Women Still Represent An Untapped Market For Mobile Content
Mobile Internet No Longer "Bloody Expensive", Just Expensive
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