135,000 Nexus One units sold in first 74 days

Where do we put the blame on the less than tepid sales figures for the Nexus One after its first 74 days on sale? Is it the lack of a solid advertising plan? Look at the response that Motorola and Verizon achieved with the "in your face" DROID spots that cost $100 million. Perhaps it is the fact that the handset can be purchased only from Google's web site. Most people want to touch a phone, examine it and see how well it works before they make a commitment. With the newer smartphones that do it all, buyers are looking to get a device that will be called on to do many different things and seeing that device working in front of your own eyes beats a YouTube video or a written description. Finally, launching the handset on the nation's fourth largest carrier doesn't put the odds in your favor of scoring blockbuster results. If the model is not a "must have" gadget, not too many cellphone users would be convinced to switch networks. And this is a Catch-22 situation, because it is hard to make a product a "must-have" model without letting potential buyers actually feel the phone and see it work right in front of them.

According to analytics firm Flurry, 135,000 units of the Nexus One were sold after the first 74 days. That compares with 1.05 million units of the DROID and 1 million iPhones that were sold after the same time period. And to make matters worse for the N-One, the iPhone was $599 at the time. With Verizon and Vodafone both poised to offer the Nexus One, sales figures should improve. As we reported earlier today, a new version of the Nexus One for AT&T and Rogers is now available from Google, but with the price an unsubsidized $529, we wouldn't expect to see too many units getting chalked up for those two networks.

HTC Nexus One Specifications | Review
Motorola DROID Specifications | Review
Apple iPhone 3GS Specifications | Review

source: Flurry via BGR