Was the Droid launch more successful than the iPhone?

[montush]

Neither Verizon nor Motorola have published any official numbers yet. All Droid sales numbers are analyst estimates at this point unlike iPhone numbers officially announced by Apple.

Dont forget how widely Palm Pre estimates varied between analysts until there was some consensus when Palm reported its results (although no concrete numbers).

I know I am not going to get a unbiased opinion on this forum. But I read a few articles today on the Droid and apparently they are claiming almost 800,000 Droids sold as of now, with a goal of 1 million by the end of the year. Here's the thing, check out this steve jobs quote -

 

[Rodimus Prime]

The best argument as to why it's not fair to claim a "victory" over the iPhone given initial sales number is that the supply of the iPhone prevented Apple from achieving the numbers. Remember that there were lines days after the launch of the original iPhone (and the iPhone 3G), any lines for the Droid...no. Demand outpaced supply in the case of the iPhone, what the iPhone could have achieved if Apple had enough iPhones at the time we shall never know, but even at $600 and with a crappier network I would find it hard to believe that the iPhone would be outsold.

I would take that demand out pace supply with a grain of salt. I would not put it pass apple to intentional make supply short for the original iPhone release. The reason they do not make enough is that causes the phone to become even more desired because it is so hard to get there for increases demand.

It is funny but it works. Apple makes sure that the supply is limited or does not bother making sure they have a built up supply for the release. It becomes increased demand so people buy more. In a matter of a few weeks it was not hard to find an iPhone in the size you wanted. it was that first week or so that it was bad.
That means it is still valid. Apple knew it could gamble with the limited supply of the iPhones for more demand latter on due to apple fanboyism. It is a huge gamble for a company to take unless you know for sure it will pay off. Apple knew with the fanboyism it has it would come out on top. For the droid it is safe to bet niether Verizon nor Mortrala wanted to play that game and it would not work out in their favor. instead they chose the more standard and safe practice of making sure they could keep a steady flow of sells.

 

[elpmas]

For one, most people aren't going to pay $600 for a phone on contract, especially when they can get 20 different phones for free. Secondly a lot less people had 'smart' phones 2 years ago, the iPhone helped push them into the mainstream (Although the iPhone before 2.0 was more of a feature phone). The average consumer thought paying more than $100 for a phone on contract was ridiculous, but now with the ease of use in smart phones that was ushered in by iPhone people see them as more useful.

And also, the economy was in a worse situation a few months ago when the 3GS was released with "incremental" improvements (as most people like to say) and it still moved more than the Droid.

But anyways, who cares how many people have the same phone as you? The only way it matters to most people is in the number of developers that come to the platform...Even still it seems that people who buy Android phones are less likely to pay for apps than the average iPhone user. Why that is I'm not sure, but it is something that developers have to pay attention to.

I honestly don't care which one sells more, or its past history. Like you mentioned, its the platform that's being offered.

At the time the iPhone was one of the most expensive phones on the market. $200 is historically on the high end, but much different then the $600 price of the original iPhone. Despite the economy being worse, people have a perception of what they should spend for x before it becomes unreasonable. For the vast majority of the population $200 on a cell phone wouldn't seem to be that unreasonable.

The above argument also respond to any of the claims about the global launch of the iPhone vs. the U.S. launch of the Droid.

The best argument as to why it's not fair to claim a "victory" over the iPhone given initial sales number is that the supply of the iPhone prevented Apple from achieving the numbers. Remember that there were lines days after the launch of the original iPhone (and the iPhone 3G), any lines for the Droid...no. Demand outpaced supply in the case of the iPhone, what the iPhone could have achieved if Apple had enough iPhones at the time we shall never know, but even at $600 and with a crappier network I would find it hard to believe that the iPhone would be outsold.

Apple did a great job with its development for the iPhone, causing its audience to line up. But this also includes die hard apple fans doesn't it? All in all, I think time would tell the difference between the two.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

I would take that demand out pace supply with a grain of salt. I would not put it pass apple to intentional make supply short for the original iPhone release. The reason they do not make enough is that causes the phone to become even more desired because it is so hard to get there for increases demand.

I agree with you in the sense that lack of supply likely influence the demand, but the lines were there. Apple didn't say how many iPhones they were going to be releasing and what was clear was that while Apple might have only sold x, clearly the number they could have sold at the same price point, etc. was greater then x, and probably significantly greater. I did say that we will never know how many Apple could have sold the first week - whatever the case, I find the argument that the Droid was more successful then the iPhone a bit farfetched, but one cannot deny the success it did have. In general, trying to compare them is hard to do given that the numbers clearly have some skewing.

As to the idea that Apple limited supply to increase demand, I don't think so. iThink they had a limited supply because that's what they had.

 

[funkdoctor]

Neither Verizon nor Motorola have published any official numbers yet. All Droid sales numbers are analyst estimates at this point unlike iPhone numbers officially announced by Apple.

Dont forget how widely Palm Pre estimates varied between analysts until there was some consensus when Palm reported its results (although no concrete numbers).

Could be true, but the 3 articles I read (3 different sites, different authors) placed them in the 800,000 range. I, of course have no idea how many phones they have sold. But Apple made an official announcement after 74 days. This phone has only been out for 3 weeks. So, if the word is that they are going to announce 1 million before the end of the year, I believe they might be somewhere in the ballpark. I should have phrased my title for this thread differently - was the Android 2.0 launch just as successful as the iPhone? I think this accomplishment means more for Google than Motorola. It's definitely the "cool" phone to have. I saw 3 or 4 at the bar I was at here in DC tonight. It's got a lot of people talking.

 

[macfan881]

Imo the Droid was bulky and Fugly in design the Eris on the other hand is much more better in my opinoin if verizons Data plan wasnt so darn expensive the Eris would be my next phone.

 

[kdarling]

Imo the Droid was bulky and Fugly in design the Eris on the other hand is much more better in my opinoin if verizons Data plan wasnt so darn expensive the Eris would be my next phone.

Verizon's data plan is $30 a month, same as ATT.

Their voice plans are both basically the same price, too.

 

[miniConvert]

It's great that this is being discussed, the Droid launch has clearly gone down well over there (I'm in the UK), though it's basically a hardware wrapper for Android 2.0 so it's only fair Google gets its fair share of the praise.

How well the device and the OS performs over the coming months will, of course, be a point of interest.

The most important outcome will be the continued uptake of 'smartphones'. These devices truly are an enabler, and the quicker we can move to them en masse the quicker the services and applications will develop at the front end, and the quicker the networks will develop behind the scenes. The only real failure would be if we fail as a society to adopt technologies that will advance and empower us.

 

[cmaier]

It's great that this is being discussed, the Droid launch has clearly gone down well over there (I'm in the UK), though it's basically a hardware wrapper for Android 2.0 so it's only fair Google gets its fair share of the praise.

How well the device and the OS performs over the coming months will, of course, be a point of interest.

The most important outcome will be the continued uptake of 'smartphones'. These devices truly are an enabler, and the quicker we can move to them en masse the quicker the services and applications will develop at the front end, and the quicker the networks will develop behind the scenes. The only real failure would be if we fail as a society to adopt technologies that will advance and empower us.

Well written.

 

[Consultant]

as a society to adopt technologies that will advance and empower us.

Already happened. It's called the iPhone.