From Good Morning, Silicon Valley…

“We got off to a little bit of a rough start. People were looking for an iPod and that’s not what it is. We may have missed the marketing message there.” That’s what Motorola CEO Ed Zander had to say about the company’s ballyhooed ROKR phone, which appears to be sinking like its namesake in the market for converged devices. According to American Technology Research, an exceedingly high percentage of customers who purchased the phone are exchanging it. “As many as six times more customers are returning the ROKR phones than is normal for new handset,” ATR analyst Albert Lin told Bloomberg. “There’s an overall disappointment with the product.” I’ll say. But honestly, what did they expect? With its slow syncing, artificial 100-track limit and ungainly design, the ROKR is a poor substitute for an iPod. And as a cell phone, it’s less than astonishing. You’re better off spending your money on a NAZR.

Nice to know that one’s intuitions are occasionally correct.