Motorola Says iTunes Phone Delay Due in Part to Apple

March 15th, 2005 at 2:00 PM - News by Misha Sakellaropoulo

Motorola did not show any phones designed to work with Appleis iTunes Music Store at CeBIT in Germany, as some had expected, because of differences with Apple when it comes to launching products.

Motorola tends to show products months in advance, while Apple likes to begin selling new products the day they are announced. The conflicting approaches led Motorola to delay the announcement of the iTunes phones, Reuters reported Wednesday.

"The first thing youire seeing here is a merger of two different industries with different ideas of launching products," Ron Garriques, president of Motorolais mobile phone division told analysts and reporters at a news conference at the CTIA wireless show in New Orleans. "[Apple CEO] Steve [Jobsi] perspective is that you launch a product on Sunday and sell it on Monday."

Mr. Garriques downplayed reports that the delay was due in part to disputes between Motorola and cell phone providers over royalties.

Motorola plans to launch two iTunes-capable phones this year, one in the first half and one in the second.