Motorola Xoom orders to drop in spring, end June

Despite what most companies do after a launch, Motorola is lowering orders for the Xoom in spring and may even be switching devices entirely, part suppliers claimed Tuesday. It was still on track to ship 800,000 by the end of March, but those numbers are now expected to drop rapidly. The alleged sources told Digitimes that it would ship about 300,000 of the Android 3.0 tablets in April, less than that in May, and eventually stop outright in June.

The sources still saw three to five million Xooms shipping in 2011, though an end in June with such numbers would mean either resumed production or a new model. Tipsters believed the "unclear market status" of competitors to the iPad was having an effect and that a new model was due in the second half of the year as a response.

Motorola isn't expected to comment on production numbers. However, its own CEO has pointed to a seven-inch Xoom coming in the second half of the year. It would be a "fun" device where the 10-inch model of today is targeted more at serious users, however, and would leave little overlap.

The data if accurate would nonetheless show a lack of long-term confidence. Motorola has actively pitched the Xoom as an iPad killer but will likely have sold in 2011 just a fraction of what Apple will have managed for the iPad 2, which is expected to go well past the 14.8 million sales of its predecessor in 2010. Price may be a factor, since the Xoom first launched at $800 off-contract for 3G and will still have a higher entry price of $600 for the Wi-Fi only version due next week.

The American company also faces challenges from foreign Android 3.0 rivals that now include ASUS, LG, and Samsung, and should include others such as HTC later on.

By Electronista Staff