ROKR is not selling

The Register reports weak and dwindling sales of the Motorola ROKR, Apple’s first official iTunes phone. I’m not surprised. The “ROKR sucks,” as karma will explain.

Here are some reasons why the ROKR isn’t doing so well:

It’s too close to Christmas. With Apple’s secret Oct 12 announcement as well as several other companies coming out with really neat phones by the holidays,

The iPod nano downplayed the hype of the ROKR. Put two products that have the same core competency (in this case music playing feature), with all things constant the one with more hype and eye candy will win. This is the phenomenon known as “Killing Your Own Product.”

There are other better music phones around. Like the W800i for instance. Who needs iTunes when you’re mobile anyway?

“Our checks indicated mixed to negative reviews of the much-anticipated Rokr phone, with some stores indicating strong early sales but more indicating disappointment in the product,” reckons Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Walkley.

According to the Wall Street Journal Walkley blames the lack of memory capacity, “appearance” and its high price. The Rokr is exclusive to Cingular, and costs $250 with a contract. Owners can’t store more than 100 songs on the device. Cingular is nevertheless promoting it heavily in the US.

The Register