Initial Sales of Original iPhone, Droid, and Nexus One Compared

[distortedloop]

Why pay full price for a Nexsus One designed for ATT when you can get a New iPhone in June/July subsidized at $299? You'll be with ATT anyway for 2 years since T mobile 3G is piss/poor.
You must REALLY love the nexsus one.

To listen to many, AT&T is piss poor in much of the country as well. Others will tell you that T-Mobile is fantastic. Cell phones service and location are both fully dependent on "location, location, location" for perception of value and quality. It really just depends on where you use the phone.

I don't know what AT&T's contract-free prices are, or will be, if you come to them with an unlocked Nexus One, but on T-Mobile, buying upfront and contract-free saves you $20/mo on the monthly rate for the exact same service plans as the contracted plans, so you in effect save $130 and break even on the phone about 6 months earlier than the contracted folks.

 

[mccldwll]

Subsidized phones is how the carriers get you into an overpriced two year contract, at least here in the states. Google is attempting to change that. If there were no more contracts on cell phones then the carriers would be forced to lower their prices and stop ripping people off. Yeah it's hard to let go of $530 up front, but people don't realize that they pay OVER the full price of the phone with overpriced contracts. In the long run buying your phone upfront, contract free, will be better in lowering the price carriers charge.

All this whining about "overpriced contracts". It probably wouldn't make much difference. Subsidy on iPhone $400 =$200/yr=@$17/mo. So remove the subsidy and phone plus data is @$50. Basic phone plans are @$35, so an extra 50 cents/day to have data for your handheld computer is hardly outrageous. That's half the cost of of an unlimited data plan for the iPad, which is a good deal. Now dropping the price of basic cell $10 wouldn't be so bad.

 

[btcutter]

How can you compare a $530 phone to a $25,000 car? This is an electronic device we are talking about. Do people subsidize their laptops, HDTV, PS3, or any other electronic device or appliance? No. They might charge it to a credit card and make payments on it. The can do the same with a cell phone, no? We are just "programed" by the cell phone industry that a contract is the best for you, witch in the long run it's not. The only purpose is to lock you into a contract while waving a $99 carrot in front of your face.

The industry has LURED us into this mentality. When OPTIONS of upfront cost and payment plans are given, people TENDS to choose the ladder.

Have you seen most people who use an iPhone? I don't mean that they shouldn't since it's a choice but most of them work slightly above minimum wage but put all their month's saving into an iPhone and ATT monthly data plan. These people should be SAVING their money for education, retirement etc....not instant gratification of getting the "coolest new tech toy".

 

[3282868]

Don't we go through the same when iPhone's marketshare increases e.t.c?

I will always say that sales are not indicative of quality, but unit sales/marketshare is yet another tool used when convenient to do so for those trying to tout Apple's superiority....

Why can't it work both ways?

This isn't about the iPhone, this was about the OS. As the Windows OS and Mac OS X debate has been ongoing for well over a decade (if not two), the comparison is much more relevant. If you wanted to make a further comparison, the iPhone is hardware, and only runs a mobile version of OS X. As a consumer, you can't run Windows on the iPhone. Even still, as Windows is the only available OS for PC owners, it still stands to reason comparing Windows and OS X market-share isn't a statistically sound comparison. People have the option to purchase other smart phones, they don't have the option in running another commercially availably OS on their Windows based PC.

 

[dernhelm]

I'm sorry, what? Google's primary sales base was people on the internet? The Nexus One product is for the general consumer, not internet people. And it's just not the same thing... I barely noticed advertising for the phone, even though I'm a huge nerd. TV ads and brick and mortar would definitely have contributed significantly... I'm not sure why Google isn't pushing it too hard but the Nexus One is surely a good enough phone to compete with the iPhone and the Droid.

Just for the record I'm an iPhone user.

AFAIK - Google simply doesn't do TV ads for much of ANYTHING. The lone exception is the Superbowl ad which was kinda cool. But I don't watch much TV so maybe I'm wrong?

Anyway that's what I was referring to. They seem to feel that their target demographic is best reached via Internet marketing. They may be wrong, but you can take that up with them. At any rate, if Google failed to market the device in a way you feel would have given it a chance to succeed, they can blame no one but themselves - they certainly had the wherewithal to do it.

And I certainly don't think they withheld on marketing to save a few bucks. It isn't like they're treating this thing as a hobby.

 

[err404]

What exactly is a "technologist's phone"?

A technologist is someone who is trained in a field of technology. I was referring to phones used by the pinnacle of man you described. Those who can program a VCR or change a video card.
I used this term as opposed to a cultural load slang like geek/nerd/egghead...

My point is that smartphones of today are more advanced then smartphones from 5 years ago, despite having more elegant UI (or as you put it, dumbed down).

 

[btcutter]

To listen to many, AT&T is piss poor in much of the country as well. Others will tell you that T-Mobile is fantastic. Cell phones service and location are both fully dependent on "location, location, location" for perception of value and quality. It really just depends on where you use the phone.

I don't know what AT&T's contract-free prices are, or will be, if you come to them with an unlocked Nexus One, but on T-Mobile, buying upfront and contract-free saves you $20/mo on the monthly rate for the exact same service plans as the contracted plans, so you in effect save $130 and break even on the phone about 6 months earlier than the contracted folks.

People are not comparing the same thing unfortunately.
If you set your iPhone on EDGE then compare it to T mobile service, you'll experience less interruption of calls, data loss etc. However, 3G on ATT is hit and miss. Either incredibly fast or drops call...

 

[DaveSW]

why arent the iPhone 3G and 3GS included? I know why.


Apple sold 1 million iPhone 3Gs in 3 DAYS

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/07/14iphone.html

Apple sold MORE than 1 million iPhone 3GS in 3 DAYS

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090622/apple-more-than-1-million-iphone-3gs-models-sold/

and this is not the whole picture.


How about the number of people who bought the iPod Touch?

people satisfied with their cell phone are buying iPod Touch instead.

the whole Apple/iPhone OS ecosystem is bigger than just the iPhone.


Apple's iPod touch sales double, nearly on par with iPhone

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...h_sales_double_nearly_on_par_with_iphone.html

 

[peterja]

so why couldn't Google design it to work on T-Mo's and ATT's 3G at the same time? or did T-MO tell them that if they did that say goodbye to them subsidizing current Android models?

The HTC Desire which is basically the same phone with a different design doesn't have HSDPA 1900 support although the chipset does, I guess they had to make some hardware change to enable it.

I and allot of others have imported it from the UK by various ways, so there's a demand. As it is thought I feel it's the same people who early on got Google Mail or today Google Wave not the average consumer.

 

[lex750]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)



Yes but what *you* don't realize is that many people don't have that $530 up front, and if they put it on a credit card, the 19% interest is going to more than wipe out any savings. There's an economic meaning of "present value of money" that you don't seem to grasp, but even beyond that (which admittedly would not make up for the savings with the google model given current interest rates), many people just don't have the $500 in a lump sum, and if that's what's required, many people just won't buy.

So what is required to buy a laptop, hdtv, ps3 or anything else? A contract? You pay for it upfront or you charge it. Pay it off quickly and find low interest rates. Or pay the minimum due and have it cost you 5 times as much. It's your choice.

 

[Juventuz]

Was that in the first 74 days tho?

Eh, probably not, I've seen it going on for about a month now. 74 days after the Droid's launch would be sometime in January.

I would have thought that the GSM Milestone that wouldn't work on Verzion's CDMA Network would not be included in the first 74 days of Droid on Verizon sales chart....

Perhaps it's just me.

I'm guessing it wasn't counted, but just wanted to point out that the Droid is available elsewhere.

 

[azazel-]

Don't we go through the same when iPhone's marketshare increases e.t.c?

I will always say that sales are not indicative of quality, but unit sales/marketshare is yet another tool used when convenient to do so for those trying to tout Apple's superiority....

Why can't it work both ways?

Because when talking about Windows marketshare, there simply isn't a worthwhile comparison. You are trying to compare a product (the iPhone) which has a myriad array of worthy alternatives, with one (Windows) that has almost no alternative for the majority of people walking into a store and wanting to buy a PC.

You could impulse buy a PC with Windows 7 while doing some grocery shopping, or buying some mulch for your yard work. The same cannot be said about an Apple computer. Buying an Apple requires a conscious decision on the part of the customer. Windows does not.

People make a conscious choice to get an iPhone, because worthwhile alternatives are available in abundance.

 

[distortedloop]

A lot of people think the Nexus One was never intended to be any kind of popular phone, it's more of a reference phone for other manufacturers to see what Google would like them to do with the Android platform.

I'm not surprised by low sales on the Nexus One at all. While I'm sure Google wouldn't minds selling a ton of them, I don't think it was ever their plan to be a mass market hit with this thing, if they were, they'd advertise on more places than some ads on the web.

I think they went with a small launch intentionally to test out their Google phone store concept, and all the rest that goes with it. They've never had to deal with warehousing and shipping a physical product, and all the other stuff that goes with non-web-service products. Like most things Google, this phone is just a beta test for them of being a real retailer.

Like others have posted, outside of techy/geeky blogs and Google's own sites, have you seen a single advertisement for the Nexus One? Where? Not on TV. Not on radio. Not in a magazine. Not even Google's home page after the first couple of days.

I like my Nexus One, and outside of my house's neighborhood, here in Los Angeles I actually like T-Mobile better than AT&T. The 3G is 30-40% faster than my 3G iPhone on AT&T, the voice quality is clearer (could be the phone, not the network) and the cell phone service rates are SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper for unlimited voice/data/sms.

I initially wished the Nexus One came out with AT&T service, but I'm not so sure. Perhaps when I start traveling around later this year, I'll feel differently, but I always have my iPhone for backup.

 

[ChazUK]

the whole Apple/iPhone OS ecosystem is bigger than just the iPhone.

How is this any different than Android which is available on Netbooks, Tablets/Slates, Media Players and Smartphones?

 

[DaveSW]

A lot of people think the Nexus One was never intended to be any kind of popular phone, it's more of a reference phone for other manufacturers to see what Google would like them to do with the Android platform.

I'm not surprised by low sales on the Nexus One at all. While I'm sure Google wouldn't minds selling a ton of them, I don't think it was ever their plan to be a mass market hit with this thing, if they were, they'd advertise on more places than some ads on the web.

I think they went with a small launch intentionally to test out their Google phone store concept, and all the rest that goes with it. They've never had to deal with warehousing and shipping a physical product, and all the other stuff that goes with non-web-service products. Like most things Google, this phone is just a beta test for them of being a real retailer.

Like others have posted, outside of techy/geeky blogs and Google's own sites, have you seen a single advertisement for the Nexus One? Where? Not on TV. Not on radio. Not in a magazine. Not even Google's home page after the first couple of days.

I like my Nexus One, and outside of my house's neighborhood, here in Los Angeles I actually like T-Mobile better than AT&T. The 3G is 30-40% faster than my 3G iPhone on AT&T, the voice quality is clearer (could be the phone, not the network) and the cell phone service rates are SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper for unlimited voice/data/sms.

I initially wished the Nexus One came out with AT&T service, but I'm not so sure. Perhaps when I start traveling around later this year, I'll feel differently, but I always have my iPhone for backup.

excuses excuses.

it's not Apple's fault Google and T-mobile did not market this product properly.


The Nexus One launch was a FLOP. don't even try to sugar coat it.


IT WAS A FLOP.

 

[zacman]

How about the number of people who bought the iPod Touch?

people satisfied with their cell phone are buying iPod Touch instead.

the whole Apple/iPhone OS ecosystem is bigger than just the iPhone.

Exactly. That's why the marketshare of the iPhone is down by over 10% in 2009, 4.5% in Q9/2009 and another 3.6% in Feb 2010. The iPhone market share shrinks but Apple reports that they sell more iPod touch than ever.

http://www.cultofmac.com/android-marketshare-grows-while-iphone-market-shrinks/32402

 

[DaveSW]

How is this any different than Android which is available on Netbooks, Tablets/Slates, Media Players and Smartphones?

give me the total sales figures for all Netbooks, Tablets, etc. running Android...

 

[lex750]

A technologist is someone who is trained in a field of technology. I was referring to phones used by the pinnacle of man you described. Those who can program a VCR or change a video card.
I used this term as opposed to a cultural load slang like geek/nerd/egghead...

My point is that smartphones of today are more advanced then smartphones from 5 years ago, despite having more elegant UI (or as you put it, dumbed down).

When you can't remember at least a dozen phone numbers on your contact list, and you rely on your phone to be your memory... then yes you are "dumbed down".

 

[jragosta]

Apple sold 1 million iPhone 3Gs in 3 DAYS

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/07/14iphone.html

Apple sold MORE than 1 million iPhone 3GS in 3 DAYS

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090622/apple-more-than-1-million-iphone-3gs-models-sold/

Exactly. When the first iPhone came out, smartphones were far less common and the iPhone was breaking new ground. Once smartphones caught on, later versions of the iPhone sold far, far faster. So let's update the original chart with the number if iPhone 3GS phones sold in the first 74 days. What is it - 10 million?

Is that the new microsoft motto: "Our OS is now 'pretty darn good'"?

I guess that beats 'miles behind Mac OS for 20 years and counting'.

 

[azazel-]

When you can't remember at least a dozen phone numbers on your contact list, and you rely on your phone to be your memory... then yes you are "dumbed down".

...you need to write down all your little rules.

Actually, save yourself some trouble. You could show how badass you are with one of these;

Nothing is more hardcore than the Zack Morris phone. Doesn't even have a contact list!

 

[distortedloop]

...

And I certainly don't think they withheld on marketing to save a few bucks. It isn't like they're treating this thing as a hobby.

Not a hobby (like the AppleTV?), but more like a beta test of being in the direct fulfillment business (though I'll bet they just contracted that out - anyone know who runs their warehouse in the midwest?). Also, as mentioned above, I think Google doesn't really want to be in the phone business, they want to show HTC, Motorola, and other manufacturers what can be done with Android, and how they should sell their phones to break the carrier stranglehold on the market.

People are not comparing the same thing unfortunately.
If you set your iPhone on EDGE then compare it to T mobile service, you'll experience less interruption of calls, data loss etc. However, 3G on ATT is hit and miss. Either incredibly fast or drops call...

But what's the point of having a 3G phone if you have to put it on EDGE?

As far as 3G speeds...I have to disagree 100%. In my office, dozens of side-by-side speed tests on my Nexus One vs my iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G - all still have service - I consistently get 1.8-2.1 mb/s on the Nexus One with SpeedTest and XtremeLabs. On the iPhones it's usually in the 0.8 to 1.5 mb/s range. Very inconsistent, and only a couple of times did the iPhone 3G on AT&T get near the 1.8 mb/s that that T-Mobile Nexus One.

But that's just my location. Like I said, where you use the phone will make huge differences.

 

[ChazUK]

give me the total sales figures for all Netbooks, Tablets, etc. running Android...

I don't have that information sadly, nor do I know where it fits in with "Initial Sales of Original iPhone, Droid, and Nexus One Compared" either.

Congratulations for all of the good things that have happened for Apple in the past tho. Impressive.

 

[ChazUK]

Exactly. That's why the marketshare of the iPhone is down by over 10% in 2009, 4.5% in Q9/2009 and another 3.6% in Feb 2010. The iPhone market share shrinks but Apple reports that they sell more iPod touch than ever.

http://www.cultofmac.com/android-marketshare-grows-while-iphone-market-shrinks/32402

You silly sod.... You have to include the iPod touch AND the iPad before comparing the iPhone's smartphone marketshare......

Some people are ignorant......

 

[dgree03]

excuses excuses.

it's not Apple's fault Google and T-mobile did not market this product properly.


The Nexus One launch was a FLOP. don't even try to sugar coat it.


IT WAS A FLOP.

By your logic the iphone is a flop compared the the razr...

 

[dgree03]

You silly sod.... You have to include the iPod touch AND the iPad before comparing the iPhone's smartphone marketshare......

Some people are ignorant......

lol I know, when iphone marketshare or sales go down, they throw in Ipod touch sales to pad it... and vice versa...