Early sales good
Motorola's Droid could be the next breakout hit phone. Although there have been an absence of long lines this
past weekend, analysts believe that Verizon is seeing strong sales of
the Motorola Droid.
It went on sale in the US on Friday fairly quietly. But
part of the reason that there were no long lines was because
retailers had plenty of devices in stock. The iPhone and Palm Pre on the other
hand were in short supply. Neither Verizon nor Motorola is providing exact sales
figures, but Verizon, said sales were very strong over the weekend,
with a steady stream of customers Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Analysts also believe that the phone is selling well.
Mark McKechnie, an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech, who covers Motorola,
checked with a small sample of Verizon retailers around the country. Verizon had about 200,000 phones in retail channels for
the launch, with many stores in larger metropolitan markets, such as New
York and Los Angeles, getting about 300 devices. Stores in cities such
as San Francisco got more than a 100 devices, and retailers in
smaller cities got between 25 and 40 devices each.
While no one had sold out, much of that stock has gone.
The Droid definitely outsold the HTC Eris, which also went on sale
Friday. The main reasons were the device's higher-resolution screen,
better camera, faster processor, and latest Android software.
Verizon is spending more money on the Droid advertising
campaign than it has on any other device launch. It has also been pointing
out that AT&T's 3G coverage is patchy. AT&T is actually suing Verizon Wireless over this
commercial campaign, asserting that Verizon's advertisement is misleading
consumers.