When Google launched its much hyped Nexus One Smart phone with much fanfare early January in the US, most people expected it to offer a stiff challenge to Apple’s iPhone.
The market expectation was based own its own analysis that Nexus One was a good device. It is perhaps the best phone yet in the market which uses the Android technology. In fact, CNET editors have said that it actually outranked the iPhone 3GS, Apple’s best iPhone to date.
Despite the hype and hoople surrounding the launch and the great expectation usually associated with whatever Google does, the company managed to sell only 80,000 Nexus One phones in one month.
This is a grealy disappointing number for Google when sales of Apple’s iPhone or Motorola’s Droid are considered. The original iPhone sold about 600,000 units in its first month of sales, and Apple announced the million unit mark 76 days after its release.
Relatively speaking, Nexus One sold only 13% of the iPhone number, if the figures are right. Google so far has not commented on its sales figures.
Similarly, Motorola’s Droid phone, the first successful phone based on Google’s Android operating system, sold 525,000 units in its debut month.
Some analysts then termed both the iPhone and Drone figures as disappointing. While a few called it a success, some termed the sales a slow start while others thought it was even a failure.
So, what went wrong with Nexus One? Apparently, its distribution model and lack of proper advertising are having a negative impact on its sales prospects. Google traditionally has not been spending much on its products and services yet managed to be successful. Obviously, the same approach is not working now.
The Google is also criticized for its unsatisfactory after-sales service in the US. Customers often have to wait for days for a reply to complaints sent via email. Google does not have customer service infrastructure.
In addition Google has been insisting that the Nexus One could only be sold online. This also hit sales negatively. If the search engine has to multiply sales of Nexus One, it has to address these problems, including smart marketing.
80,000 is a perfectly fine number.
You do not seem to understand that the only Carrier to have the Nexus One is T-Mobile, which already has 7 other Android Phones. If Nexus One was released on AT&T those sales numbers would be FAR higher.
But the real important thing you seem to disregard is the fact that Google is not trying to out sell the iPhone, or even the DROID for that matter. The plan is to test how well a 100% online based product can sell and be supported. The Nexus line of phones are designed to be more elite then what ever the common man has in his pocket. Like the Original iPhone was. http://www.Google.com/Phone is designed to display and offer “Best In Class” Android devices from all the major manufacturers, as you will begin to see.
Google is not trying to win some race against the iPhone, by way of the Nexus One. Google already won against the iPhone with Android, mostly because the iPhone is a closed, proprietary device controlled by Apple with an iron fist, as where Android is an open mobile operating system that will be used in over 100+ devices in 2010 alone. Hell, Motorola has 20 Android Phones planned for this year alone, not to mention those from HTC, Sony, HP, and others.
Apple likes to think it is at war with Google’s Android, but it is not. In fact, it is no more at war with Android than Palm is.
So, back to my point. You seem to be viewing the small picture here, from device to device, which is not a bad thing, but you are missing out on a whole world of information, as are your readers.