Motorola Droid Sales Spark Reader Debate

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Motorola Droid's debut caught the attention of TheStreet readers who were curious about the market reception for the bold new Google (GOOG)-powered phone at Verizon (VZ).

With big expectations that the Motorola (MOT) Droid could give AT&T's (T) Apple (AAPL) iPhone a run for the holiday sales money, readers like Ron found our early stories put too harsh a light on the first days of sales estimates.

"Last I checked, many potential cell phone buyers are looking for work and are not able to purchase a new cell phone," Ron wrote. "In addition, it is not that easy for most cell phone customers to simply drop their current phone for a new phone."

Ron said to expect a big boost in Droid sales on Black Friday and in December. "I was not aware that the first week of November is historically the most popular time to purchase a cell phone," he wrote.

Droid sales in the first week were somewhere between 100,000 and 400,000 units, according to at least two analysts following store sales. These right-out-of-the-gate estimates attempt to gauge whether the hotly anticipated phone was going to be a hit or a dud. More specifically, the early tallies would help investors get a sense for whether the Droid would hit the minimum 1-million-sold target analysts have for this year.

As a challenger to the iPhone, Droid's debut performance would most certainly be measured against the 1-million-sold introduction of the most recent iPhone. Breaking the 1 million barrier in the first weekend, while an incredibly high target, would certainly have been a smashing success for Verizon, Motorola and Google.