Google Nexus One Sales Off To Slow Start

According to market data from Flurry, the Google Nexus One has sold a paltry 20,000 units in its first week. Compare that to the iPhone 3GS' first week, during which it sold more than one million units. Crow pie, anyone?Google has to be kicking itself for calling the Nexus One a "superphone" during the launch on January 5. If its first eight days in the market are to be believed, the Nexus One is anything but super.

Almost immediately, users noticed problems with the Nexus One's ability to connect to T-Mobile's 3G network. The issue has been further compounded by Google, T-Mobile and HTC's collective lack of assistance to those seeking help with their new devices.

Now comes some market data by Flurry. According to its numbers, Google sold just 20,000 Nexus Ones during the first week it was available. No so super, eh? Flurry arrived at its numbers by monitoring how some 10,000 iPhone and Android applications are used across the mobile landscape. Not the most surefire method of coming to a conclusion, but even a rough estimate gives us some guidance.

Furry said, "While Flurry estimates that Nexus One was outsold by Droid by more than 12 times, myTouch 3G by 3 times and iPhone 3GS by a staggering 80 times, it's worth noting there are significant differences in the marketing, distribution and perception of the device as revolutionary vs. evolutionary. Google executed an online "soft launch" of the Nexus One, a very different go-to-market strategy compared to Verizon's launch of Droid, on which it spent a record-breaking $100 million on marketing, including aggressive TV advertising spends."

Where does all this leave the Nexus One? Well, capabilities aside, these hurdles need to be overcome in perception -- if not reality -- if it is to become a big seller. Perhaps Verizon has saved some of its marketing dollars for the Nexus One's launch with Verizon later this year?