Nexus One sells just 20,000 units in week 1

[technoholicjakk]

For anybody who has just discovered this thread - I have recently done a follow up article you can check out on my blog. You can find it by clicking here: The Nexus One is a hit: Disagree? Then you're a mentalist

Flurry, a Mobile Phone analytics firm, has published a report detailing the sales of the Nexus One in its first week of shelf life.

Flurry monitors the usage of more than 10,000 developers

 

[Carl C]

Google should have promoted this , it could have been a big win for them. But it's also worth considering that the phone came without any selling point in stores or with other phone contracts other than t-mobile and even that was online only

 

[sooper_droid12]

Their "promotion" was on-line banner ads and search engine. This was the point of their experiment. They didn't want to roll-out a huge ad-campaign. In fact, it's supposed to represent the anti-thesis of what Verizon did with the DROID. Their hypothesis was that there would be better penetration and "hits" with potential consumers through a web-based marketing scheme. What this demonstrates is that there were flaws to their process.

 

[Stormin]

Had it been released on Verizon or Sprint the numbers would probably been through the roof. Releasing it on T-Mo, one of the smallest carriers, you had to expect low numbers.

 

[pequeajim]

Think about this... If they had sold 100,000 units, would they have the capabilities to support all of those sales? i think they are just beginning to ramp up in that area.

 

[QrafTee]

Google should have promoted this , it could have been a big win for them. But it's also worth considering that the phone came without any selling point in stores or with other phone contracts other than t-mobile and even that was online only

They did get a lot of free promotion from news stations though.

 

[SimonSays]

I think there are two things that a lot of the tech blogging community are missing (primarily those who focus on gadgets). First of all, Google is not a hardware company, it's a software company. From their perspective this whole venture is not about the Nexus 1, it's about the store. Would they have sold a lot more phones if they sold it at best buy and T-mobile stores? Of course they would have, that wasn't the point.

Second, Google is not a hardware company, it's a software company (echo?). The mentality and business model is considerably different from a regular electronics manufacturer. For example, when Apple releases a new product, they do so with the maximum hype possible, dramatic unveilings, black turtlenecks, and massive ad campaigns. By comparison, Google's approach is "Hey guys, we've got this idea we've been kicking around. We'd figure we'd let you try it, but we're going to keep it as an invite-only beta for awhile first " While it's an approach that may lack style, they make up for it with frequent iterations and improvements. It also minimizes risk on inevitable failures. Everyone's aware that the Macbook Air was more or less a flop, and given another chance I don't think Apple would have put the resources into developing it. By comparison, do you think the man on the street knows what 'Knol' was?

In this light, the way Google's handled the Nexus 1 release makes more sense. You obviously can't beta test a store, so instead they've opted to start small. They're moving into new territory with this experience, and like any good software company, they're expecting bugs. Judging from the fact that they've had significant issues with handling customer trouble-shooting, it's a good thing they did.

Ultimately, the success of this venture isn't going to depend on final sales numbers of Nexus 1s, it's going to depend on the ability of Google to get manufacturers and wireless companies on board with this sales format, and their ability efficiently run it. It's also not going to have chance to really shine until the major wireless companies all switch over to LTE. Until then we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[QrafTee]

I think there are two things that a lot of the tech blogging community are missing (primarily those who focus on gadgets). First of all, from Google is not a hardware company, it's a software company.

Microsoft is a software company and not a hardware company as well... *looks at the Xbox 360* You live and you learn. *looks at Zune* ... Then again... maybe not.

 

[clitrenta]

Flurry, a Mobile Phone analytics firm, has published a report detailing the sales of the Nexus One in its first week of shelf life.

Flurry monitors the usage of more than 10,000 developers

 

[infoman]

This whole thing was a massive fiasco. I would have loved to been in the board room is all I can say when all this went down. What your going to see over the coming weeks is a lot of face saving and damage control. There is a substantial monetary investment in this scheme. It's a terrible business model, one that competes against it's own partners, and thats a very dangerous road to travel if Android is to remain mainstream and supported by all parties! Problem with Google is they have that monopolistic attitude and wants the whole pie instead of a piece. They need to go back to software development, cut a deal with the wireless carriers to distribute and brand the Nexus and move on. It's a nice evolutionery phone, but still can't compete with the Iphone for pure function. What really amazed me, no hands free voice dialing that works on or off bluetooth yet. With such a major rollout thats just unacceptable especially with all the horsepower this phone sports. These are business tools for some of us, and so far thats something the Android based models are a little lite on. However some prefer style over function and thats why we have a choice.

 

[Isthmus]

I think that the fact that it is only available on t-mobile, and that the average user can't see it at a store yet, probably has a lot to do with why it has not made a big splash. ONly the techies and phandroids that have been following it online have rushed to order. Wait until Verizon gets it in the spring and lets see if numbers increase. I suspect they will.

 

[FireRunner]

The issue is most users want to feel the phone in their hands. It's very difficult to sell a phone via Internet these days unless it's an already established phone.

 

[technoholicjakk]

I have now done a follow up article to my thread on my blog > you can find it by clicking here:The Nexus One is a hit: Disagree? Then you're a mentalist

Comments are welcome