Facing an unexpectedly high return rate, Motorola is coming to terms with the sad truth: The company's iTunes cell phone, the ROKR, is a decided flop. According to analysts, the return rate for the ROKR is six times higher than the industry norm, suggesting that customers aren't too happy about the quality of the new device. Of course, Motorola was screwed by Apple Computer into making a dramatically limited device rather than the decent phone/music combination it could have made, because that mythical device would have cut into iPod sales. Motorola CEO Ed Zander waxed philosophic about the miscalculation last week, noting, "People were looking for an iPod and that's not what it is. We may have missed the marketing message there." Yeah, maybe. In the meantime, a true iPod phone could make a killing. My guess is that's exactly what Apple is working on right now
