Motorola Droid Outpaced iPhone Sales
NEW YORK (
) -- The
Motorola
(MOT)
outsold the original Apple iPhone in the first 74 days of sales, says research shop Flurry.
The 74-day mark is a significant milepost because it took Apple that long to sell its first million iPhones back in 2007.
The report was intended to shine a light on the disappointing sales of
Google's
(GOOG) - Get Report
own
Nexus One
phone, which is expected to hit the 135,000 mark Friday, the 74th day it has been available.
But gadget watchers, including the Flurry folks, were a little surprised to see how well the
fared.
The Motorola Droid was the first Google Android-powered phone for
Verizon
(VZ) - Get Report
and the flagship smartphone of Motorola's turnaround effort. The Motorola Droid got off to a weak start at stores where little-to-no lines formed ahead of time and no sellouts were reported.
But Verizon's ongoing $100 million Droid advertising campaign has helped keep the phone in the public eye. Motorola, Google and Verizon also issued a software upgrade to existing Droid users that helped improve the phone's performance with things like photos.
Reviews of the Droid have been generally favorable. The Droid is rated slightly higher by users on sites like
Phonescoop
. But the Droid's flat, slide-out keyboard hasn't exactly won raves and its applications pale in comparison to some of Apple's favorites.
Still, Droid's success says a lot about Verizon's support of the Motorola Google effort. It has also shown that Verizon customers have been eager for a touchscreen phone that could rival the iPhone.
--Written by Scott Moritz in New York.
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