DROID sells over 250,000 units in first week?
According to new data from WHERE, active users of the much hyped Motorola DROID has doubled in the last few days, suggesting that there are now about 250,000 total units now active.
The WHERE map also shows where the phone is being sold, with New York being the largest adopter, at 12 percent, followed by Los Angeles at 6 percent and Washington DC at 5 percent.
Earlier this week it was reported that 100,000 units had been sold in the opening weekend, so the new numbers suggest positive momentum for the Android 2.0 phone.
[Source: After Dawn]
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Rumors: A Verizon iPhone in 2010
This could hurt Verizon Palm Pre and the Verizon Droid, but here is the rumor from CNNMoney:
Verizon has made it pretty clear that it would cut a deal with Apple (AAPL), were it not for a couple of impediments: 1) the contract that makes AT&T (T) the iPhone’s exclusive U.S. carrier, and 2) the fact that Verizon’s network (based on CDMA2000 technology) is incompatible with Apple’s smartphone (which uses W-CDMA (UMTS)).
The first roadblock — AT&T’s contract — is set to expire next year, according to an interview chairman Randall Stephenson gave USA Today more than a year ago.
The second barrier could also disappear were Apple to build a new iPhone that is compatible with both AT&T and Verizon’s networks.
Last week, AppleInsider reported on rumors that Apple may be doing just that. Its source was a leaked OTR Global report, based on unnamed sources in Apple’s Taiwanese supply chain, that said Apple was making a “worldmode” phone using a new hybrid chip from Qualcomm (QCOM).
On Wednesday, a second source for the rumor emerged, this one with a date attached. According to GigaOm’s Colin Gibbs, Northeast Securities has issued a research note, based again on supply chain sources, that says Apple will launch a W-CDMA/CDMA2000-enabled iPhone through Verizon by the summer of 2010.
This assumes that Apple and Verizon can cut a mutually satisfactory deal. But judging from the tone of bitter resignation coming from AT&T executives lately, it sounds like Steve Jobs and Randall Stephenson may have finally come to terms.
More Verizon Droid Ads
Initial Motorola Droid sales look good
Early indications suggest that the Motorola Droid could be the breakout hit phone of the holiday season.
You might not have guessed it from the lack of long lines this past weekend, but analysts believe that Verizon is seeing strong sales of the Motorola Droid. The device went on sale on Friday across the country. And unlike other big launches for phones such as Apple’s iPhone or even the Palm Pre, retailers had plenty of devices in stock, and customers didn’t have to stand in long lines to get their phones.
Neither Verizon nor Motorola is providing exact sales figures, but David Samberg, a spokesman for Verizon, said sales were very strong over the weekend, with a steady stream of customers Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Store representatives in Manhattan confirmed this, with one sales associate telling me on Monday afternoon that there had been a steady stream of customers in the store all weekend and even through Monday.
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 and said in a research note on Monday that he is encouraged by the anecdotal reports.
“While it is early, and the sample size is small, we are encouraged by our findings,” he said.
McKechnie estimates that 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.
Locations were stocked well enough that there were no reports of any stores that were completely sold out. An employee at the Verizon Wireless store on West 34th Street in New York said his store had gotten about 500 Motorola Droids and HTC Android Eris phones for Friday. The store didn’t sell out of either phone, but much of its stock is now gone.
That said, the store employee, who didn’t want his name used, said his store did sell out of the $29.99 Droid docking station, which charges the device. As of Monday, the company still hadn’t restocked its supply of that accessory.
McKechnie reported in his research note that the Droid outsold the HTC Eris, which also went on sale Friday. And checks with Verizon stores in Manhattan back up this claim. While there were plenty of customers looking at the HTC Android Eris in the Verizon stores I visited Monday afternoon, most people said they planned to buy the Droid. The main reasons were the device’s higher-resolution screen, better camera, faster processor, and latest Android software.
Still, plenty of customers noted that they preferred the look of the HTC Eris over that of the Droid.
Read the rest of the story at Cnet.
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Early Verizon Droid Sales Unknown, Don't Matter
- Image via CrunchBase
Verizon’s first-weekend Motorola Droid sales were likely modest — judging by the tiny lines for the new Google phones at Verizon stores last Friday — at least compared to first-weekend iPhone sales the last few years.
But that’s okay. No one expected the Verizon Droid to fly off the shelves opening weekend. What matters to Motorola and Verizon is a strong, steady holiday season.
Verizon did not announce first-weekend Verizon Droid activations — the new Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris went on sale Friday morning — but told TheStreet.com that it sold “a lot” of Droids over the weekend. (“We don’t plan on releasing sales figures for the individual products,” the company added.)
“One thing seems clear, had Verizon hit the 1 million mark, you’d know about it,” TheStreet.com’s Scott Moritz writes.
Read the rest of the story at Business Insider
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With $100M Saturation Campaign, Verizon Droid Will Be Impossible to Avoid
Verizon’s droid is pitching itself as the anti-iPhone, and nowhere is that more evident than in the look and feel of its campaign — a blanket push you won’t be able to escape.
The integrated campaign, the largest in Verizon history, will receive an estimated $100 million in support, most of it spent before the end of the year. Within it, the new phone is touted as the robotic do-it-all antidote to the Apple handset’s shortcomings. The TV spots set to hit airwaves Monday night are about as far from the iPhone’s cheery spots as possible. Visually somber and testosterone-packed, they could be mistaken for ads for “The Terminator.” But, like the iPhone spots, they also demonstrate what the device can deliver, such as voice-activated turn-by-turn directions, fast web-browsing and video viewing. The tagline: “In a world of doesn’t, Droid does.”
But as the Droid has been held up as a potential iPhone killer, the question is whether all of Verizon’s tough talk targeted to male technophiles will take the handset out of mainstream running.
“The sci-fi positioning is kind of a gamble,” said Peter Dixon, creative director at marketing and branding consultancy Prophet. “How broadly appealing is this futuristic positioning? It could be super successful with young males, but there’s a whole world of users that won’t find this engaging.”
Read the full story in Adage.
Verizon Christmas ads place iPhone in Island of Misfit Toys
- Image via Wikipedia
Deficient! That’s what Verizon has prefers to call it. If you haven’t yet seen the new advertisements put out by Verizon in time for the Christmas season, you may check them out on Verizon’s YouTube page. It seems like Verizon has gone the whole hog attacking the iPhone! In fact, it’s the iPhone carrier AT&T that has come under major fire.
Read more: http://www.devicemag.com/2009/11/08/verizon-christmas-ads-place-iphone-in-island-of-misfit-toys/#ixzz0WNFlXvkD
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Motorola DROID mania sweeps the nation [source: EngadgetMobile]
It appears that last night’s midnight opening in Manhattan went off like gangbusters, but the situation across the country is a little more subdued this morning with seemingly short lines and easy access to DROIDs at every location we’ve visited, EngadgetMobile reports.
Midnight Droid madness in Manhattan
More than a hundred people were lined up at midnight Thursday outside a Verizon Wireless store in midtown Manhattan to be among the first people to buy the new Motorola Droid.
More than a hundred people showed up at a Verizon Wireless store in New York City at midnight to buy the new Motorola Droid Thursday night.
About 65 eager shoppers lined the south side of West 34th Street across from Macy’s in Manhattan at 11:30 p.m. Thursday waiting for the store to open. Verizon opened the store from midnight to 2 a.m. to give people in the Big Apple a head start on the morning cell phone rush. By midnight, when the doors officially opened, about 100 people stood in line as Verizon officials ushered in customers 25 at a time.
The Droid will hit store shelves nationally starting at 7 a.m. Friday in many stores around the country
Lets see how today goes.
[read the rest on Cnet]
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Verizon to open stores at Midnight to sell the Motorola Droid
A very, very limited number of Verizon stores will start selling the Droid as soon as the clock ticks over to November 6th, from midnight to 2 a.m. The emphasis here is definitely on “limited”. So far, there’s only one store doing the midnight sale, and it’s right in the heart of New York. If you’re anywhere near the store (located at 134 W 34TH St, New York), go get your camping gear ready.
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