The Nexus One Is A Flop: 74 Days In, Just 135,000 Sold

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-nexus-one-is-a-flop-74-days-in-just-135000-sold-2010-3

by fiaz • 16 years ago

24 48 16 years ago

jonpaul• 16 years ago

This is really quite disappointing. I really wish Google would have done two things:

1) Released the Nexus One on Verizon already and not just T-Mobile. Yea, yea... I know you can use it with AT&T. I have one, but you can't use 3G.

2) MOST IMPORTANT: A large marketing campaign on Android. I don't know any mainstream user that knows what the "Android" is, everyone knows what the Droid is.

WesleyJohnson• 16 years ago

All indicators point that it's going to release for Verizon on the 23rd. Granted, that won't help the "first 75 days" numbers, but I'd wager money that the sales will skyrocket when it's released. No, I don't have any solid data or research to back that up, it's just a hunch.

I've held off of disowning my BB Storm and getting a Droid just to wait for the Nexus One. Of course, your 2nd point feeds into that heavily. Anytime I mention Android, several people I know that have a Droid or Droid Eris claim they have an "Android". I suppose technically speaking, they do, but they certainly don't understand the difference.

theBobMcCormick5• 16 years ago

I don't think it's the carrier choice that's the problem. After all, the G1 and the MyTouch have both sold quite well despite being considerably less impressive phones than the N1. IMHO, the Nexus one suffers from two problems. One is that American cell phone consumers aren't used to unsubsidized phones and don't seem to have realized yet just how much they'd save if they pay for the phone up front.

The second, and IMHO larger problem is that there are no stores where you can go and hold a Nexus One and play with it. If this phone was in stores where people could see it, it'd be flying off the shelves a hell of a lot faster than Mytouchs or Droids.

unwind• 16 years ago

I wonder how this connects to the recently announced thing where they hand out free Ones to top app developers. I also heard that speakers that the recently-held Game Developers Conference also all got Nexus Ones, courtesy of Google ...

If you can't sell them, hand them out for free as a PR move?

theBobMcCormick5• 16 years ago

I think handing them out free at the Game Developers Conference was more about getting game developers excited about creating games for the Android platform.

Roridge2• 16 years ago

but Droid is doing pretty well http://www.androidguys.com/2010/03/16/flurry-compares-nexus-...

e40• 16 years ago

I went with the Droid because I would not purchase a phone online. I want to be able to either exchange a defective phone or return it within the first 30 days. I read lots of people complaining about the mail-it-in-for-a-new-one online. Turnaround? 2 weeks.

araneae3• 16 years ago

That's so weird. I love buying things online... physical stores are such time sucks.

yungchin• 16 years ago

I suppose this shows Google is not Dell: selling expensive goods online-only requires some specific expertise.

The good thing for Google is, that all they probably really care about is the success of the Android platform; as long as the world buys hardware that plays nice with the open web and (thus) integrates nicely with Google's services, it's fine. So the 1M sales of Motorolas in that graph are good news.

rbanffy2• 16 years ago

Some Android phones will sell millions, some will sell a dozen. Android is only the platform that makes them run the same software. That would be like implying Symbian is a failure because the nGage didn't sell well.

pclark• 16 years ago

very true. Except the article is stating the Nexus One is a flop, not android:

> Nexus One sales are still flopping.

rbanffy2• 16 years ago

Unless the reader is careful, he could misread the headline as stating Android is a failure while, in fact, it's a very narrow observation on the lackluster sales of a recent device.

Roridge2• 16 years ago

Traction can be a bitch, doesn't mean it's a "flop"... only time will tell on that one.

tseabrooks• 16 years ago

I'm not sure I'd call the Nexus One a flop. A) You, and a lot of others, are still talking about it. B) It's more about getting Android 'out there' than about selling phones

jbellis• 16 years ago

So it turns out that carriers subsidize phones because ... customers like it that way?

aero1422• 16 years ago

Not quite. If the carriers would allow you to pay for the service minus the subsidies, then we would really find out whether people like the subsidies. The carriers won't allow that because they really like 2 year contracts.

theBobMcCormick5• 16 years ago

Actually, Tmobile does allow you to pay for the service minus the subsidies. It's called their "Even More Plus" plan. You save a significant amount per month, plus no contract. It's an awesome deal, but I don't think a lot of American cell phone consumers have managed to understand yet just how much they're getting screwed on cell phone subsidies.

ryandvm• 16 years ago

Seriously. Who expected people to pony up the extra $300 for the Nexus One (over the Droid) just for the privilege of being on T-Mobile's sub par network and no contract? Most people stick with a carrier for half a decade or so. Two year subsidies are not that onerous.

Bring the Nexus One to Verizon with the option of a carrier subsidy and we'll see how much of a flop it really is...

grandalf• 16 years ago

I agree. Also, if you happen to be an existing T-Mobile customer you get to pay a $100 loyalty penalty!

araneae3• 16 years ago

Perhaps because we're paranoid techies that appreciate the fact that T-Mobile did not cooperate with the warrantless wiretapping of the NSA, unlike AT&T, Sprint, AND Verizon.

theBobMcCormick5• 16 years ago

You'll end up paying a hell of a lot more than an extra $300 if you buy it subsidized.

fierarul• 16 years ago

The nexus one should do better when it goes outside US.

mlni• 16 years ago

Given that much of Europe is used to smartphones costing €600, Nexus One should fit right in.

rauljara• 16 years ago

I can't see how anyone who really likes their nexus would be phased by this. Droid's success will ensure there's a steady stream of software for the nexus, and handset sales don't affect user experience. It's possible that google might not release a new nexus, and that would probably be bad, except it looks like android as a whole is here to stay. Someone will be manufacturing hi-quality android phones designed specifically to be better than the latest, shiniest iPhone, no doubt.

I just have to add, though, that as a long time fan of apple products, it still very, very weird to be using products with high market shares. You'd think I'd have gotten over it after a couple of years of the iPod, but no, it's still weird seeing apple logos everywhere. It's weird, but I kind of preferred it when apple's stuff was less common.

timwiseman• 16 years ago

It is only a flop if its goal was really to sell as a commercially viable product. If on the other hand it was meant to be closer to a reference implementation, it could be seen as a success as more and more Android based phones many of which are much like the Nexus One come to market.

The obvious counter to that is why would it be sold at all if it was primarily a reference implementation. And the obvious answer is marketing. A reference implementation is generally something only known about by Engineers and people who track what engineers do. A fully Google branded phone got tremendous press with practically no standard advertising, and it showed consumers what a Android phone could be.

wallflower• 16 years ago

+1 on the idea that the Nexus One is Google's ideal (at present) Android phone.

Hopefully the success of the Nexus One will persuade other Android OEMs to stop forking Android and to keep their ROMs up-to-date (to allow consumers to upgrade, hardware be willing, to newer Android OS releases).

einarvollset• 16 years ago

Yes it did show consumers what an Android phone could be, and what the sales data is suggesting is that so far it ain't cutting it.

I can't help but think that if this was sold by Motorola there wouldn't be any argument that it was flopping.

Does anyone know how the sales volume compares to the Pre?

pavs4• 16 years ago

If sales volume (from limited time) is measurement of success and flop than OSX is a flop compare to Windows7.

I don't know in which world is selling a new phone of 135k units by a newcomer in the hardware/phone industry is considered a flop.

Nexus One is Google first shot at a phone on an already heavily competitive industry. Without having any experience is selling/producing a consumer product like this, I would say this is a pretty good result for a first time. Come back after 1 year and another iteration of the phone and than we can talk about numbers and perhaps decide whether its a flop or a success.

For now, the way I look at it, its an experiment in progress.

I don't even own an andriod phone. I am still happy with my iphone. But when my contract expires I most likely will consider an android phone.

USA is a matured and very competitive cell phone market, its not very easy to get existing phone users who are committed to their phone contracts. Getting a new phone is a fairly long term commitment for most users.

drc1912• 16 years ago

To be fair, their marketing spend compared to their competitors was WAY higher than Apple's was compared to MS. Google did spend a lot of dough trying to roll this out.

pavs4• 16 years ago

I don't watch TV so I don't know if they are advertising there. However if you are referring to marketing and advertising expense online by google. Good news, Google pretty much owns the online advertising field (~70% with Doubleclick + google). Are they really "spending" a lot of money to market Nexus One compare to other phone manufacturers?

ABrandt• 16 years ago

Which probably plain and simply does explain their success to date. IMHO this launch still isn't a flop though. I know Google is an outlier among most companies, but they're still in a completely unfamiliar market at this point. Consumer selling is a different beast compared to B2B--Google has never truly convinced consumers to pay up before. Would you use an HTC search engine, or hell even an Apple one?

Google's ability to reach into so many distinct markets is pretty remarkable to me. I think we can't ignore the mountains of data they have on consumer buying patterns though. They've probably collected more business intelligence than any other company prior. That's quite the competitive advantage to be allowed.

matwood• 16 years ago

"Google did spend a lot of dough trying to roll this out."

Where exactly did Google spend all this money? I see DRIOD and iPhone commercials nightly and have yet to see Nexus One commercial. I also don't see any Nexus One advertising in stores or anywhere else a typical consumer might go looking for a phone.

Google did some web advertising and had some business news sites cover the phone because well they are Google. I have yet to see any sort of advertising from them that even comes close to the iPhone or DROID (which incidentally has also done very well).

teej2• 16 years ago

> I don't know in which world is selling a new phone of 135k units by a newcomer in the hardware/phone industry is considered a flop.

It's a flop in the world where a newcomer introduces a new phone with proprietary hardware and software, on a single carrier, at an insane price point, and sells hundreds of thousands of them in the first week. We live in that world now.

pavs4• 16 years ago

Apple was a newcomer in hardware industry before iphone?

Edit: Remember MotoROKR? How many millions did they sell? Exactly!

Auzy2• 16 years ago

That could also be because there are only a few countries where it is being sold, and the lack of advertising for the Nexus One. Many people haven't even heard of it, but I think once they know that flash wont apparently run on a droid, they will consider the nexus one.

theBobMcCormick5• 16 years ago

Flash doesn't currently run on either the droid or the N1 (or the iPhone for that matter). Ever rumor I've read about Flash coming to Android has indicated both the Droid and the N1 are likely to get it.

Auzy2• 16 years ago

The nexus one maybe, but I adobe have already said it will only be available for smartphone's with fast CPU's, and so not sure if the Droid qualifies (of course I hope it does though).

Either way, mobile technology moves so quickly, this will quickly change. And we all know that Apple does get away with selling inferior hardware devices anyway, so Apple might succeed even if they they sell garbage to people.

tl• 16 years ago

My options are:

* Verizon who has no problem selling other Android phones but doesn't have the Nexus One (yet)

* AT&T which I have bad experience with, and is pushing the iPhone

* TMobile which is so bad that a friend of mine who works them strongly recommends you shop elsewhere

I have a basic Verizon phone that I'm replacing with a Nexus One when it comes out Real Soon (TM). That phone is about 5 years old and is starting to fail

Anyone else in the same situation.

eirene• 16 years ago

Reiterating theBobMcCormick's point, Google's UX/UI is a flop (see Buzz). Who wants to buy a phone that’s only available online? A phone one can’t check out IRL and then take home? Not me, not a lot of people apparently.

Tichy• 16 years ago

Which popular Android apps come with Flurry?

Everybody I know who is in the market for a new phone wants to have a Nexus One. They are mostly geeks, though.

The Nexus One Is A Flop: 74 Days In, Just 135,000 Sold

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