Verizon "very pleased" with early Droid sales

updated 03:50 pm EST, Mon November 16, 2009

VZ won't give Droid tally but is happy


Verizon today responded to predictions for Motorola Droid sales with only a brief statement on their actual results (subscription required). A spokeswoman for the carrier declined to say whether or not a rough estimate of 250,000 Droids sold is accurate but did say the company is "very pleased" with sales in just over a week since the Android phone reached stores. Verizon doesn't normally provide sales breakdowns for phones and doesn't intend one for the Droid, she says.

The company has made exceptions in the past, however, and said it sold one million BlackBerry Storms in its first quarter of sales last year. The absence of numbers doesn't necessarily reflect poor sales but does reduce the likelihood that the Droid has achieved iPhone-like numbers. Apple sold about one million iPhone 3GS units during its opening weekend alone, albeit across eight countries.

Eyewitness accounts corroborate a strong but still relatively modest turnout as most stores only had short lines and didn't sell out of their complete inventories. Apple faced brief shortages in the US but saw a sustained shortage outside of the US as most orders went to fulfill domestic orders.


By Electronista Staff

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Previous Comments

  1. slider

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Oct 1999

    +5

    BS

    Verizon also usually does not pitch a huge ad campaign for a single phone, but that didn't stop them. Seems to me their reluctance to carry this through is b/c actual sales were less than expected. Given their huge build up, I'm sure if they should a million Droids on launch weekend they'd be releasing press release after press release about the success of their - implied "iPhone Killer" - Droid


  1. slapppy

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2008

    +1

    Another big fat

    FAIL for the so called iPhone killer.


  1. iphonerulez

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2008

    +2

    I see that investors aren't impressed

    with sales of the Motorola Droid. Ever since the introduction of the Droid Motorola share priced has dropped daily. I would say this appears to be a big fail for Motorola. I hope they wouldn't be expecting iPhone sales numbers from a company that hasn't designed a decent cellphone in years.


  1. Fast iBook

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2003

    0

    The fact...

    That it isn't sold outside the us, is flimsy & cheaply made & limited to the low speed red network, does not have the app store, is totally vulnerable to hackers & tried to & failed to 1-up the iPhone means that this device has a bland future with little more sales than the initial weekend. Vzw's 15 car hype train pulled into the station, but only 25 people got out.

    - A


  1. peter02l

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2009

    0

    They will at some point

    I suppose they will say something about numbers once sales start to cover the advertising expenses.


  1. Redwolf

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2009

    +4

    The "fact"?

    Mr. iBook - the Droid phone is neither "cheap" nor "flimsy". As for the "low speed" network, I'm pulling in 1Mb/s - plenty fast.

    I'd call it a toss-up between the iPhone and Droid. The iPhone's more polished, but it's been around a few years, whereas the Android OS has only been out for a year. The multitasking on the Droid is very nice. I used the Droid in lieu of my Garmin to navigate down to south Texas and back, never losing the 3G signal even on the back country roads (77 and 281). I was streaming music from Pandora or Last.FM the entire way while the nav system was running, all the while the system was updating the local weather based on our current position.

    The iPhone is fantastic, but it's got the AT&T boat-anchor of a network holding it back. The Droid is missing some of Apple's polish, but the Verizon network really does have the best coverage in the country.

    There's plenty of room for both phones.

    -Red


  1. mytdave

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2000

    -2

    don't count it out

    I think this may be the one... not the 'killer' (there is no iPhone 'killer') but the competitor. The Droid may be the 1st smartphone that can actually compete with the iPhone. It won't kill it by any means, and even though initial sales are a little slow, it's not looking too bad. I think this one will have a chance to succeed, even if it does not surpass.

    I'm going to reserve my criticisms until I've had a chance to actually use the device. Even without using one, it is already obvious that it does not have the 'polish' of the iPhone, but it is also equally obvious that it does surpass the iPhone in 3 ways - higher res screen, multitasking, and better network coverage (due to VZ and not the phone itself).


  1. testudo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    -1

    I see that investors aren't impressed


    with sales of the Motorola Droid.


    OK, so now you're listening to investors? If Apple's stock dropped since some announcement or release, you'd be all "They don't know what they're talking about! Stupid investors!"


  1. testudo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    -2

    Re: The fact

    is totally vulnerable to hackers

    How, exactly, is it totally vulnerable to hackers? Has it been hacked? Are there worms spreading all throughout the droid network?

    Or is it just that there's not some monolithic company sitting on top of the heap, approving every app before anyone can install it?

    Because, most people will tell you, the more open the system is (as in source), the more secure it becomes (hence why Linux is not drowning in the world of viruses and worms and the like, even though it also is open to all hackers looking to exploit).


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