Analyst estimates 100,000 DROID smartphones sold in first weekend
By Darren Murph 
posted Nov 10th 2009 9:12AM
posted Nov 10th 2009 9:12AM
The lines may have been subdued, but one way or another, it sounds as if Motorola managed to sell quite a few DROIDs over the weekend. According to analyst Mark McKechnie at Broadpoint AmTech, the outfit managed to move around 100,000 of 'em during the opening weekend, with most stores moving at least half of their original shipments. He also estimated that Moto would sell one million Android-based phones in Q4 2009 alone (which includes the CLIQ, obviously), and that he viewed the first few days as "encouraging." It's been a long, long while since we've been able to say this, but hey -- nice job, Motorola.
Thats great news. I wasn't ready to see Motorola die. ....Maybe I still have some feelings left over from my first gen RAZR. But we all knew that relationship "Wouldn't work out".
Didn't Palm sell only 75K Pres the first week?
> Didn't Palm sell only 75K Pres the first week?
No one except Palm and Sprint know how many Pres have been sold - any timeframe - and they're not telling.
The best estimates of REAL sell-through - sell-through to actual end-consumers - for the first weekend of Pre sales is as you say.
Note that Palm does NOT report REAL sell-through - their definition of "sell-through" is "those we have sold to have sold" rather than "sales to end consumers". this is particularly important w.r.t. the Pre because Sprint was the entity that sold to BestBuy, Radishack, and Walmart.
So, in other words, this is the "Shipped vs. Sold" debate that plagues video game sales.
I remember all the sad Motorola faces that used to show up on this site. I'm definitely happy for them now. This may not be anywhere as successful as the RAZR was back in the day but they have proven that they can hang with today's demands.
I guess they're finally playing "Taps" for Motorola. It's tough watching another long-established American company closing it's doors. Goodbye and farewell.
AWB
Let's see the actual cost of the phone is about $550.00. So 100,000 phones in one weekend made them about $55,000,000. How is this fail?
@ Sea Urchin. No1 knows for sure but sources had it at 50k. http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/08/palm-moves-50-000-pre-smartphones-in-opening-weekend/
And considering the Fact that Verizon has twice as many subscribers as Sprint, you would have to call it pretty even. And it was the 1st ever showing for WebOS. Android has had time to grow and build up Hype.
To early to say if this will be failure of the level of ZuneHD or Palm Pre but I am waiting to hear directly from Verizon:
" x number of Motorola Droid handsets were sold/ activated in y days".
"Of that number z% were new subscribers to Verizon".
So far no numbers ....... obvious intervals are 3, 7, 30 days and then CY 2009
Of course Verizon has framed their marketing campaign as primarily as a network vs network pitch, I imagine it is more about making current Verizon customers feel good about their network and resisting the temptation to jump networks to get the new toy....
The Droid Eris is not a Motorola phone
I was thinking that same thing...
"...which includes the CLIQ and DROID Eris, obviously..."
Apparently the Eris was a bit too obvious for its own good, and was caught in a case of mistaken identity. How tragic.
I'm glad I didn't have to be the corrective asshole in this situation.'
But I would've if I had to...I mean...it's the internet...it's our job.
Don't be stupid, the 100K figure is for Motorola alone. Analysts don't put together figures for sales of an operating system, they do it for sales for companies. "Droid" here refers only to the single Motorola Droid product.
I wonder how many CLIQs they sold... OP says they are estimating 1mil Droids and Cliqs by the end of the year.
And yes, I wonder how many Eris's were sold: I would not be surprised if they sold more--it's a really nice phone that the best bang for the buck today.
Uhhhh...it "obviously" doesn't include the Eris since that's made by HTC, not Motorola.
And queue the "They didn't sell 1 million so they fail" posts from Word and the likes in 3...2...1...
But that's a good number. Glad to see Motorola back in action.
You almost let me down. It wouldn't have been a post if you didn't show up.
Word...you are an amazingly compliant tool.
Between the big headlines for the iPhone sales, I just want to clear up some of the obfuscated facts.
Original iPhone (2007) opened first weekend sales in the US only. (Apple reported to have SHIPPED 270K units first weekend.)
iPhone 3g (2008) opened first weekend sales in 21 nations. (Apple sold about 400K units in the US first weekend, 1M worldwide.)
iPhone 3GS (2009) opened first weekend sales in 8 nations. No one bothers to break down US sales anymore, and Apple does not separate out sales by region. Go figure.
Seems like the Droid is doing quite fine, released just in the US.
They didn't even *sell* 100,000, if you're taking that word to mean "sold to an actual end user". From Motorola's perspective, selling a Droid means that it's no longer in their hands. They've moved over 100,000 Droid units into the channel, but if it's like many overhyped launches, a lot of those are probably on shelves, and in storage.
Let the sales comparisons begin!
...I suddenly have an impulse to... Like... Motorola!?
brb, seizure.
In all seriousness, it's good to see Motorola producing some nice phones (and in turn, sales figures) again. I hope they can keep it up with more awesome Android devices.
i've tried many times in the past to actually like motorola, but i can honestly say i hate motorola. i've had quite a few mobile phones from these guys and i can also honestly say they have been, without any doubt, the WORST phones i've ever owned. can anyone actually say that, after having used one of their phones for a few months or even a year or two that they were glad that they purchased it? i don't know if this droid is a good phone or not but it sure had better be because i'm pretty sure i'm not the only one out there who won't be buying anything motorola until they have proved they can do much better.
Yeah, the Star Tac was money, and the iDEN phones were pretty nice if you needed something rugged. The UI has always been the albatross around Moto's neck; and now that they are pushing Android, I think they can make a solid recovery.
The Razr was a good phone for its era and suited me just fine until I got sand in it :(
Motorola dead? I currently use a Q9C and love it. The RAZR became a good bang-for-buck phone once it became cheap/free on plans, after the hype died down, and once you add an extended battery to it.
Why would moto count the droid eris? Doh.
Hoping for mine to come in today!
Gotta say that I love my Droid. It's much better looking in person that in pictures. And it's a great pick-up line for bars: "Is that a Droid in your pocket?"
OMG! Mine went off in a lounge the other night and that's the exact question the girl I was talking to asked me. Lol.
hey, that's exactly why i buy all my electronics, so i can pick up on chicks in bars. who cares if the phone sucks or not as long as it helps you get a half unconscious chick in the sack. this backfired on me once though when i took my mbp to the local starbucks. instead of drunk chicks making the first move i had a half dozen or so dudes in turtle-necks and wide rim glasses checking out my ass.
Pretty sure Eight doesn't have to worry about picking up chicks at all.
@ johnson
right you are. if i want to pick up on semi-hot drunk chicks i'll use the advice i gave above. however, if i don't want to go through the hassle and just want a quick, easy, bag-over-the-head lay then all i have to do is give your mama a ring...it's a sure deal every time.
@EIH8T
....Yeah. Just walking up and talking to them is always good too, but im sure this works so much better.
What's with all the h8, EIH8T?
Why would moto count the droid eris? Doh.
ah ha the shitty comment system has deemed your mistake terrible enough to force a double post on my behalf!
Well.. that 100,000 units prolly should cover the costs of half those verizons Droid ads lol... But good to see Motorola back in the Game.. I have a feeling that the Motorola Cliq will do alot better than the Droid just cause of that new interface..
and the cost of opening locations earlier, salaries for the employees that opened earlier, etc.... ?
spin it any way you want, and feel free to vote me down, but my guess is that verizon was hoping to sell AT LEAST a few hundred thousand more.
i wouldnt necessarily call it a failure, but it definitely wasnt a success. they are still in the hole a ton of money from just the advertising and prep for its launch.
@Microdot
They only shipped 200,000. So, at best they could have only sold about 100,000 more (assuming this sales estimate is accurate). Plus, this was a US-only launch. And there was almost no main-stream fanfare before launch (the ads that actually show the device haven't even started hitting the airwaves yet). Sure WE knew about it, but I can assure you few non-techies knew about this device before the weekend. I'm sensing more are becoming aware as I'm hearing plenty of my (non-techie) friends and people at work talking about it.
I don't know what Verizon's marketing plans were, or if they intended to completely sell everything out, but from how they're launching these ads, it seems like this was more of a softer launch. Perhaps they're hopping to generate buzz first and make up sales later. Viral marketing first, and then more main-stream later?
All that being said, I don't know how you can call 100,000 in 1 weekend a failure. Sure it wasn't iPhone 3GS worldwide sales from this summer, but it certainly was very good. I'm interested to see how the Q4 numbers play out.
Analysts are already saying this Droid is the new ROKR. Abysmal Droid sales for the first weekend are the final nail in the coffin for what was once a top U.S. company. Motorola may hope to sell a million before the year's end, but it's likely they'll only sell half that amount even if they catch an economic tail wind for the holidays. If that's the best that Motorola and Android has to offer, then the Android platform is no better than the Pre which also failed to move a significant amount of product. There is absolutely nothing compelling for people to buy a Droid. Even with all the Verizon hype, the Motorola Droid failed to excite buyers. The buzz that turned in a whimper.
Chalk up another failure for Verizon and the once mighty Motorola. Even Palm's share price didn't start eroding so quickly when sales numbers didn't live up to expectations as Motorola's share price is. Motorola investors smell another stinker smartphone and are closing their noses and wallets in turn.
@AvgWB:
Okay, let's see some of those "experts" comments. Links, please. Or are all of your so-called "experts" on the Cupertino payroll?
You like iPhone, we get it. But your choice does not equal everyone else's. You and word (and all the other iTards) need to get a life...and not the kind that comes in a box adorned with a chrome-colored fruit.
I love my Droid. Android has definitely made some competitive improvements in the jump in point release.
I need to play around with one of those before I'd consider ditching my iPhone for one. Then again, I wouldn't really want to get another EV-DO device with LTE stuff being as close as it is.
You really think they're going to do a full rollout of LTE in the next year or so? I highly doubt that.
Full rollout? Heavens no. But knowing my luck, there will be significant proliferation of the devices and infrastructure before my contract would be up with the Droid.
According to my government VZW rep.. most major markets should be rolling out by summer 2010. I know Houston is slated for a March 2010 rollout. You should start seeing LTE data cards in Q2 2010.
Strange that Houston would see a LTE rollout that quickly since it's not a Verizon hub (AT&T actually owns most of that area).
But that's mainly why I'm doing a 1-yr contract.
@Jughead
You do realize they just figured out how to do handoffs between different vendors equipment right? I.e. this would be like saying Intel just figured out how to get Linksys routers to work with D-link WiFi cards and then saying that WiFi products will be out in 6 months.
Take a look at past telecom rollouts and look at when things were supposed to be turned up vs. when it actually happened and then take verizon's numbers with a grain of salt. LTE is still predominantly in the lab and not production.
Obviously LTE phones are at least 2 years away. The only LTE hardware that will be coming out anytime soon will be USB modems.
I'm highly upset they used that "I'm first" pic. Ugh. LOL.
With that pic there was no need for a "First" type of post, since they were already beaten by the photo. :)
A funny yet highly effective photo. I love it.
Just got my Mot Droid and Eris activated (mine and Mrs. ineed911's) - these devices are really nice. I love the physical keypad of the Mot, but the Sense UI is digital sex, and the feel of the Eris is awesome.
Really happy to get back to Big Red too - today is a happy day.
I do wish the Eris had a little bit more oomph to its processor, I'm a big fan of the Sense UI, but I just can't be satisfied with the Eris when the Droid is right next to it :(
I was going to get the Eris for my wife as well until she found out that the Droid can do a lot more with voice recognition (calling, searching, etc.). I assume most of that will be available in Android 2.0 for Eris when it releases, but for now I think she's changing her mind to the droid. I have to imagine that the Eris is far more user friendly for smartphone newbies like her.
the only company who will benefit from this is Google, extending android market share.
Analyst is wrong
I have to admit i am pretty pleased with mt droid, but i was comgin from a touch diamond so not much comparison.
They REALLY need to fix some of the bugs, and the laggy scrolling.
100,001 when it gets release in Canada. Just saying, I'm getting one.
Yep, I got rid of my 9 month old iPhone 3G last Saturday. No regrets so far. My emails (both Gmail and my private hosted domain IMAP) work great. Google Voice is a great addition and easily replaces the iPhones VV. The keyboard is a bit tight, but I use the onscreen kb most of the time anyway. I don't know where you live but in DC the difference between the AT&T network and Verizon is night and day. Much like NYC, SF, & CHI... DC is a problematic coverage area for AT&T. Now, I can actually hold a conversation for more than 30 minutes with confidence, and not have a call drop. I don't have to go outside to talk on the phone or hold my phone out the window just to make sure I'm not missing a text or voicemail. I found AT&Ts coverage abysmal. The Google navigation app is, in fact, all that. It puts iPhone's Maps to shame, and it's free. I like having a replaceable battery for traveling, even though the Droid (in my experience) blows the iPhone's battery life out of the water. The browser is every bit as good as the iPhone's, it's different... not worse or better. The speakerphone is STRONG!
That's all I can think of right now without getting into the little things that I like.
All in all, I don't miss my iPhone. I don't play games or concern myself with frivolous apps, so I don't miss 99,990 of the App Store's apps, and the 10 that I used with any frequency are either also on the Android Market or have a comparable equivalent. All I really care about is: access to the file system, the ability to email any kind of attachment I want, tethering (which will most likely occur in Dec. or January. Right now I'm using PDANet), out of the box functionality without having to jailbreak/hack, media flexibility, and a good, stable OS and good UI.
Speaking of UI, that's the only thing I'd say is truly lesser on the Droid. The iPhone does have a great UI, no contest. But, when I weigh the iPhone UI against the problems I had with it's reception/dropped calls/missed calls/missed texts, one exchange account at a time, and the shackles that Apple puts on you regarding media and customization, it was a VERY easy thing to give up. Besides that, all you need is half a brain to use Android to it's utmost, so the UI thing isn't a total deal breaker to me. Same goes for multitouch. For this...YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY ( I know how fanatical many people get over it). I found that on the iPhone (especially with maps) multitouch isn't just a two finger affair... it's a two handed affair. I was annoyed several times while traveling when I would have something in one hand and have to zoom the map out. Because to zoom out you have to hold the phone with one hand and use the other to pinch as opposed to zooming using your thumb on a button or double-tap. Which meant you had to stop, drop whatever else is in your other hand in order to hold the phone in one hand and pinch with the other. For me it happened often enough where I would get pissed at not having another option.
These are just my feelings. I'm sure someone will come along and disagree.
And, sorry for the long post.
WTF! That was supposed to be for PHIL in the thread below!
Sorry!
I have been really considering ditching my iPhone 3G for a Droid. Out of curiosity has anyone else here done this or something similar? And what are your thoughts after having the Droid for a few days?
@phil Yes, I "ditched" the iPhone for the Moto Droid. I am filling the "hole" back up and ditching the Droid. The operating system is clunky compaired to the iPhone. I like that iTunes is the center of the iPhone universe so that I can manage my apps, tunes, photo's, etc. I have had nothing but problems with the Droid and my POP 3 email too. Sometimes it works, sometimes it dosen't. I left the Droid on last night with just 50% of the battery left and when I woke up the Droid was DEAD.
Now, I did like the Google Navigation Beta. That is very cool (one of the main reasons I bought the Droid). But I do have a Garmin Nuvi anyways. I've been told (ha ha ha) that the navigation from Google should appear on iPhone soon (i'll believe it when I see it).
Sorry Droid, back to the Death Star with you.
@Phil,
I just did this as well, and am actually quite happy. The main issues I had with the iPhone was being at the mercy of Apple for applications, not having complete control over my phone, and lack of background processes (despite what Steve tells you, notifications are not enough). All of this was solved by the Droid. I can sync with my work Exchange server no problem, and I use gmail and Google Voice, so it integrates very nicely with both. Plus, I got off the ATT network :-)
If this trend continues, I think I'm going to miss seeing that sad Moto logo that Engadget were so fond of using. :(
I don't buy this number. Not because it may not be correct, but because it came from an analyst. Think about the last couple of times we heard analysts predict phone sales in the first weekend. The original iPhone, according to analysts sold 750K in its first weekend. The Pre, according analysts sold 75K. Both those numbers, especially the iPhone's were debunked.
Again, not saying they didn't 100,000. I just don't trust the source. If it is remotely accurate, then this is a decent launch. To me, it sounds like this was somewhat similar to the Pre's launch minus the shortage, and that does not bode well for the long term success of this device in terms of competing with those other guys.
Moto hardware = fugly.
my .02 cents
Wow, only two hundredths of a cent? I'd hate to see the eloquent vitriol you could spew for the full two cents' worth. I'm imagining it now:
RRAAAGH!!!! GROWLSLOBBERSNORTRANT!! FUGLYFAILFELLATIO!!!
Anyway, thanks for your input.
reminds me of this
http://consumerist.com/consumer/asinine/transcript-verizon-doesnt-know-how-to-count-220723.php
got me confused for a minute!
Thats good for moto me im waiting on the hd2 man that phone is the sexy : )
I look forward to seeing one in the wild. also, my dad may get one
if verizon would let people sign a new contract that are already under one and get the phone they would've sold a boat load more... well at least one more...
This is exactly what i did. And this is what i had to do in order to achieve it. Mind you i'm one of those that doesn't care about his number (would gladly change it)
Consider this:
ETF: 150 bucks
New Droid with new line: 200 (after rebate)
Total price: 350.00 (450.00 before rebate)
Total Retail price of device without contract: 600.00
I called them and pretty much told them: Why would i want to pay full retail on a device when i can get it for almost half off if i grew balls and cancelled right now, and then re-contracted? (verbatim). Rep put me on hold for a few minutes, and then proceeded to tell me that my upgrade date was manually reset in order for me to take advantage of the NE2. lol. I've said this before... Verizon is very flexible if you know how to talk to them... It takes a certain class of button pushing...
verizon will sell alot more Droid if they can match my really old ATT plan!
i paying 49.99$ for 2 lines, then 9.99$ for additional lines!
dude You are posting the same exact comment on different forums. I saw your comment twice on the pocketnow and wmpoweruser.
can you find another excuse plz.
That's good to know. They don't have to sell millions of phones (although that would be great), just enough to keep the innovation going. We need active competition in the market!
First gen iPhone sold 146K on its first weekend. So not bad. There are a few reasons i won't buy one right now..
1. 6 mo left on iPhone contract
2. Need world phone capability
3. Want keyboardless version
I'm hoping that within the next year or so there will be plenty of Droid flavors out there to choose from.
i talked to my friend who works for google and he told me there is a keyboardless version of the droid with a faster processor making it's rounds in the google labs
I gotta ask, why is the keyboard thing an issue? The Droid has both an on-screen and slider keyboards, and does this in a package that's only 3.3mm thicker than the iphone 3gs. I understand having a preference, but I would think that having the option to use either without sacrificing more than 1/8 inch would make this a non-issue at worst, and a solid point for the Droid at best.
That being said, you pay for it, you get to pick. Yeah, so there's really no reason for me to even post this.
I'm used to the screen keyboard on iPhone right now, and am happy to continue using a soft keyboard (it is a bit laggy at times on my 3G). I don't need the hard keyboard, the extra weight/thickness and extra mechanics. I looked at a mock droid in Costco last weekend and I didn't like the mechanics. It just seemed a little loose to me, but maybe the mock wasn't representative of the real thing. I know a lot of people who love hard keyboards though.
Paddy: I haven't used a mockup, but the real thing is ridiculously solid. The slider feels very sturdy, with no rock or give.
Actually multiple analysts pegged the 1st gen iPhone's opening weekend sales at 500,000+.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/first-weekend-iphone-sales-500000/
http://ezinearticles.com/?iPhone-First-Week-Sales-Lead-to-Sell-Outs&id=640976
Some of them said it was closer to 700,000 but that's probably wrong. In any case 100k for the Droid isn't bad.
Form AT&T's quaterly report...
* Sales of the Apple iPhone have been robust. The June 29 launch allowed for less than two days of sales and activations before the end of the quarter. In that time, AT&T activated 146,000 iPhone subscribers, more than 40 percent of them new subscribers. Sales of the iPhone continue to be strong in July with store traffic above historical levels.
@Paddy
As I recall that was Friday, June 29 at 5 or 6 in the afternoon, correct? And the quarter ended June 30. That gave them a few hours on Friday and all day Saturday. I don't believe that is necessarily a fair comparison to the Droid's first weekend which had all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Not to mention the fact that you are comparing hard earnings report numbers to an analyst's best guess. Remember, as was mentioned above, analysts estimated iPhone opening weekend sales at nearly 750K in some cases. The real test will be Verizon and Moto's next earnings call.
The more I think about it, I also recall activation issues. With the quarter having ended June 30, the 146,000 activations could have been a low ball number with several thousand waiting for activation. It would be reasonable to assume that if you allow for a few extra activations over that weekend and include Sunday sales, that the 1G iPhone likely sold close 200K in the first weekend (From a little research it looks like the actual number is 250K). Nearly twice as many as this analysts estimate for Droid. Now comparing the two, the Droid doesn't seem to fair as well, especially considering Verizon is a larger network, much larger now than AT&T was in 2007.
BTW, the 3GS sold 1 million in its first weekend. Granted it was in eight countries compared to only one for Droid, but it was also not a major upgrade to the 3G. Clearly the Droid will not come close to iPhone sales numbers. However, Android as a whole may have a shot, just not with a single device.
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/06/22iphone.html
Droid does, what Nintendon't
Knows 3 people in my office alone that dropped AT&T for Verizon this weekend. If you dont think people want this you need to get a grip.
I'm surprised you bothered, considering it doesn't come on any Apple products.
Total Assets 226,404
Total Liabilities 183,218
Net Income 1,176
Values in millions. I guess your definition of deeper in debt is different than mine. There are plenty of service providers that are in debt right now btw so you had a decent shot of being right you just weren't.
I still havent seen an answer as to why the Blackberry's don't sell millions on launch weekend. But still hold the #1 spot as top selling smartphone. RIM has the number one spot as US market share holder. And Nokia as #1 worldwide share.
Word...do you finally not have an answer for something?
Oh, he has an answer. It' just not coherent.
@word I've started to read the comments on all the Droid posts, just to read the sh1tty comments that you leave,. you may as well just say " As soon as its legal, i'm marrying my iphone, I'm already being F'd by it everything it drops my calls, i get it regular ;) "
Keep it up word, I enjoy reading your fiction. Can ppl stop downgrading him so i can read it clearer.. Oh wait, i'm one of those..
As soon as its available in Canada (on Telus though), I'm gonna be picking up one.. Sweeeet
Maybe it's because there isn't a single flagship BB model. Maybe it's because RIM has so many staggered and overlapping releases on multiple carriers. Maybe it's because so many sales are corporate and as such aren't beholden to consumer buying cycles.
I'm sure RIM isn't complaining too much especially historically, but they must feel some amount of envy towards competitors who can ride a hype bandwagon. Free pub is free pub.
@Paddy:
You will love it. The keyboards, both soft and hard, (IMHO) are nowhere near the issue that people claim it to be, nor is the camera. The rest of it runs like silk. I personally think that a lot of the problems people are having with the Droid is just paradigm shift, especially when moving over from the iDol phone.
iDavey:
The same reason Windows has 95% market share. Corporate sales.
100,000 is not robust for a phone with a huge marketing budget & massive hype, especially one that’s supposed to compete with the iPhone.
Also, I'm interested to here the number of returns on this phone vs. the iPhone, if such information becomes available.
Motorola’s Droid Sales ‘Troubling,’ Analyst Says
http://www.thestreet.com/print/story/10624624.html
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It turns out "a lot" is about 100,000 Motorola
Droid phones sold on the first weekend.
Broadpoint AmTech analyst Mark McKechnie estimates that Verizon
sold more than half of the 200,000 Droid phones Motorola supplied to
its stores. All Verizon would say Monday is that it sold "a
lot."
But 100,000 is not a lot, especially for a device that is crucial to the
revival of a fallen Motorola. Nor is 100,000 a lot for Verizon, the No.1
telco hoping to hold that position by stopping customers from
defecting to AT&T for the Apple iPhone.
"This puts the Droid debut in the same category as the Palm Pre, and
that's a little troubling," says Nielsen wireless analyst
Roger Entner.
One has to think that Plan A for Verizon was to have a blockbuster
Droid and an ongoing partnership with Google that
would rival the winning combination of AT&T and Apple.
Plan B will now almost definitely include the iPhone.
"Verizon wants the iPhone and they will get the iPhone, but it certainly
strengthens your negotiation hand if you have a viable alternative,"
says Entner.
AT&T's exclusive iPhone sales agreement with Apple is set to expire
next year and Verizon is widely expected to add the iconic phone to its
lineup.
These Aren't the Droids Verizon Was Looking For
Motorola's deft hand at design is showcased in the slim phone with a
big brilliant touchscreen. But overall, using the phone over the past two
weeks has been a mixed experience.
Motorola Droid.
The big plusses like an excellent Web browser, voice search and Google
Navigation are offset by major minuses like a poor camera, finicky
touchscreen and a persistent Exchange email service glitch.
This marked up scorecard isn't the wholehearted approval Droid needs
from reviewers to give consumers a green light. Instead, consumers
may be waiting for more info or different phones rather than commit to
the Droid for the next two years.
Motorola needs to sell at least one million Droids this year to clear the
low bar set by analysts. With about 100,000 sold so far, and eight
weeks to go, the bar might not be low enough.
Sluggish Droid sales weigh on Motorola shares, which were down 1% to
$8.88 in midday trading Tuesday.
-- Written by Scott Moritz in New York
"major minuses like a poor camera, finicky
touchscreen and a persistent Exchange email service glitch."
Every device that has come out has similar issues (look at the iPhone 3GS and Windows 7 P55 USB sync problem). VZW and Moto have an OTA update planned for Dec 12, and all those above issues can be solved in an update--so its' do or die for Moto to fix it [now!] & we'll see. At least it's not dropping 3G service (*cough*, remember that scenario from another device!?)...