YNOT — How well is the new Google-powered “Droid” smartphone selling at this early stage of the game? Early reports seem to indicate that Verizon’s big $100 million dollar marketing push is paying off.According to the CNET, sales for the phone probably fall in the 700,000 to 800,000 units territory since its launch in early November, with more than a million sales expected before the end of the year. It’s unclear however how many of those sales were made by retail stores stocking their shelves before Christmas and how many units actually found their way into the hands of consumers.
Verizon Wireless is pushing the new Droid phone as a competitor to the popular iPhone from Apple. Made by Motorola, the Droid is the only phone that operates on Google’s new Android 2.0 mobile operating system.
“Verizon’s big marketing push for the Droid is strengthening as we close in on the holidays, and following our round of checks, we believe about 700,000 to 800,000 Droids have been sold, making our hurdle of [one million] Motorola Droids achievable for 4Q09,” said Mark Sue of RBC Capital Markets. “Motorola, for its part, has done a good job on the production side, and our survey of over 100 stores indicates strong demand, limited stock outs, and very few returns.”
The iPhone meanwhile shows no signs of slowing down, with 60,000 sales reported in its first day alone in the market of South Korea.
“We’re hoping that this iPhone will be a trigger point for the smartphone market in Korea,” said Yang Hyun-mi, chief strategy officer for Korean telecom carrier KT Corp. According to Yang, smartphones in Korea currently represent only 1 percent of the market.
Reports have also started to circulate on the Internet that Apple is testing a brand new version of its iPhone. Website server logs are showing entries from visitors identified by “iPhone3,1” – which does not match any known versions of the iPhone.
If the wireless market is indeed shaping up as a showdown between Google and Apple, that could be very bad news for Microsoft.
“If the Droid phone and the Android OS are highly successful, the biggest loser could be Microsoft, which also has longings for a major presence in wireless,” wrote Elliott Drucker for WirelessWeek.com. “If users take a liking to Android, in the Droid and other smartphones, that won’t leave much market space for Windows Mobile.”
