“The tech match made in heaven has prompted a hell of a standoff. Bowing to pressure from its wireless telco customers, Motorola yanked its new Apple iTunes phone from its scheduled unveiling at the CeBIT technology show in Hanover, Germany, on Thursday,” Scott Moritz writes for The Street. “Building on the design success of its thin metal-clad RAZR phone, Motorola tapped Apple for iTunes, the music system inside the iPod digital music player. The scorchingly hot idea came together in a new music phone called ROKR. The stunning ROKR no-show at two of Motorola’s prime product showcases offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the power struggle between phonemakers and the phone companies that want to play a big role in the music download business.”
Moritz writes, “A Motorola representative says there is ‘absolutely nothing wrong with the phones,’ and that the decision ‘had nothing to do with anyone other than Motorola.’ But analysts say the telcos canceled the iTunes phone debut party because they are in no mood to celebrate another feature that doesn’t drive up network revenue. ‘This is a manifestation of conflict we’ll see more and more as the phone takes on additional functionality,’ says Yankee Group analyst John Jackson. “‘It’s a losing game for the carriers,’ says Snyder. The iPod and MP3 crowd uses PCs to download music, and they won’t be inclined to pay the phone company for tunes they already own, says Snyder. ‘The carriers hate that answer because it means they don’t get any part of the multimedia phone pie, just as they haven’t gotten squat with imaging,’ says Snyder. The Motorola rep said the company continues to working with its carrier customers, and industry observers say they expect Motorola’s iTunes phone to be available to customers as early as this summer.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Motorola says iTunes phone unveiling delay not caused by dispute with carriers – March 10, 2005
Motorola says it’s working on more iTunes phones, some models ‘can store eight hours of music’ – March 10, 2005
Motorola indefinitely postpones Apple iTunes phone unveiling – March 10, 2005
Motorola’s ‘ROKR’ Apple iTunes mobile phone to be unveiled this Thursday – March 06, 2005
Motorola’s yet-to-be-unveiled ‘ROKR’ phone will be first Apple iTunes phone – February 16, 2005
Motorola E1060 not, repeat not, the iTunes phone – February 16, 2005
Motorola executive previews iTunes Phone at CES, syncs to iTunes like an Apple iPod – January 06, 2005
Apple’ prodigious hardware and software design skills may help Motorola create iPod phone – December 28, 2004
Apple, Motorola iTunes on cell phones a harmonious deal that benefits both companies – August 05, 2004
Motorola posts Steve Jobs’ Apple iTunes announcement video – July 28, 2004
Apple, Motorola iTunes deal not exclusive, debuts Apple’s licensing of FairPlay DRM – July 27, 2004
Motorola and Apple to bring iTunes Music Player to Motorola’s next-gen mobile phones – July 26, 2004
Sum Yung Gai – you’re right… I don’t understand monopolies as you do. The telcos are not only, as you point out, not a strict monopoly, they are not a monopoly at all, and therefore not subject to prosecution under the Sherman Act – as is in evidence by the fact that no antitrust suits have been brought against them, either by the DoJ or anyone else. If you want an example of a monopoly, just look to their predecessor – Ma Bell. If this was just an opportunity to try and bash the current elected administration – okay. But the Telcos are legitimate businesses and deserve some say in the direction of a market that they are, in fact, creating out of whole cloth. Let market forces work.
i hope this phone never comes out; by the way ringtones are stupid, and they were invented by arod, so they suck even harder
“oh listen it’s usher’s song burn, so i know my friend tammy is calling…”
please no more of this music phone synergy
Yea Jeff, it is that, but it’s also a live video phone, so you can actually see the person you called. Nice feature I think (when it works, and when the price is right)
My point is America is so far behind the rest of the world with cellular phone tech it isn’t funny. You guys still have $50 a month plans for Pete’s sake!
The wierdest thing for me about American cell phones is that you have to pay to GET a phone call. In Japan cell phones work just like regular phones – you pay to call but you can receive calls all day long from anywhere for free because only the person calling pays. The price is a little more of course to call a cell phone than it is to call a land line phone. Cell phones numbers always begin with either 090 or 080 so you always before you call if it is to a cell phone. How the heck did American carriers get away with that!!!???!!
I used to have the Motorola ROKR E1 iTunes Phone once.
I had no idea that it was a disaster.
I also had the RAZR V3i iTunes Phone.