Verizon Wireless and Motorola have reportedly poured $100 million into their marketing campaign for the Droid phone, one of Verizon's two smartphones running Google's Android platform--and the efforts likely will lead to 1 million Droid sales by year-end, according to at least one analyst.
RBC Capital analyst Mark Sue wrote in a research note that since the Droid's official launch Nov. 6 the companies have probably sold between 700,000 and 800,000 units. The companies have not released any official sales figures yet for the device, which is the first to run on Android 2.0 software.
"Verizon's big marketing push for the Droid is strengthening as we close in on the holidays, and following our round of checks, we believe about 700,000 to 800,000 Droids have been sold, making our hurdle of 1 [million] Motorola Droids achievable for 4Q09 [ending December 31]," Sue wrote. "Motorola, for its part, has done a good job on the production side, and our survey of over 100 stores indicates strong demand, limited stock outs, and very few returns."
Verizon began marketing the Droid weeks before its launch, and has continued with a series of TV advertisements as well as with billboards in locations across the country (including Times Square in New York City). Many of the ads compare the device with AT&T Mobility's successful iPhone.
On first unveiling the Droid in October, Verizon said it would put more marketing money behind it than any device it had previously offered.
For more:
- see this CNET article
- see this Barron's blog post
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