Android flagship well behind iPhone, Droid

In spite of early fanfare, Google has sold just 135,000 Nexus One phones in the past 2.5 months, according to a Flurry estimate. Having tracked sales since the early January launch, the analysts believe the Android "superphone" in 74 days has had just a fraction of the sales the original iPhone managed over a similar timeframe in 2007, when it cracked 1 million. Motorola has also landed an ironic blow as the Droid is believed to have outsold both with 1.05 million passing through Verizon.

The research doesn't directly explain the Nexus One's shortfall, but its presence on the considerably smaller T-Mobile network and the refusal to sell the phone directly through T-Mobile or its resellers has contributed to much of the poor performance. A lack of marketing, even at Google's website, has also hurt publicity.

Verizon's lead with the Droid is almost exclusively attributed to time and, inadvertently, Apple. About 2.5 years passed between June 2007 and November 2009 that not only saw subscriber bases grow, especially after Verizon's buyout of Alltel, but a conditioning of the market to accept smartphones. The iPhone not only taught the US public to embrace smartphones but created a glut of demand for a Verizon equivalent, which was heavily marketed when it shipped.

The Droid also had the benefit of launching during the holiday season where both the iPhone and Nexus One launched during relatively cool sales periods, and unlike either, were sold only through first-party channels where the Droid was already being sold at Best Buy and other retailers.

By Electronista Staff