Motorola Xoom Sales Disappoint, Analysts Say

Consumer Reports on Tuesday heralded the Motorola Xoom tablet as the best runner-up to the iPad. But consumers don't seem to be showing the Xoom much love, according to recent unofficial sales figures.

Motorola has sold only 100,000 of these Android 3.0-powered devices, according to estimates by Deutsche Bank, reported by Business Insider.

Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette released a research note on Tuesday that says the Xoom's sales "have been disappointing."

While Apple hasn't yet released iPad 2 sales figures, analysts trumpeted the device's successful first weekend, and sales have reportedly remained strong. Most estimates from the iPad 2's first weekend fall between 350,000 to 400,000.

According to Forbes, Faucette also announced similar results for the Motorola Atrix 4G smartphone, which can dock with a laptop and costs about $500 with the unique connector included. Faucette suggested that the Atrix's relatively high price point may be holding it back.

Is the Xoom a flop? Can it still be a hit? Tell us below.

Comments

[NastyDiaper]

12:35 PM on 05/08/2011

Bought the Zoom today for Mother's Day. Great Hardware that is comparable to iPad, being a little zippier but without Apple's style. The traditional reason to buy vs. apple is price, but that reason is absent and is the reason sales disappoint out of the gate. We know this.

To sync with an Android phone is the ONLY reason to pay $125.00 over what this thing should cost, and elbow your way past the retailer getting better margins for ipad.

Mom logged in, and all her googlie-droidie stuff was there. We will not hear Mom yell "AAAA! Why do I have to enter my freaking contacts AGAIN!" randomly for months. And for that we are all happy with the Xoom.

[HazeBlaze]

09:41 AM on 04/16/2011

The problem with this article, is that Deutsche Bank's number is an estimate based on an estimate. They first had to estimate how many Android devices are in the wild to estimate what .02% of those devices equals to.

Even more importantly, the chart Google provided (that these estimates were based on) was released on April 1... BEFORE the release of the wifi only model which sells for $200 cheaper and BEFORE the European release. When you look at it in this context, the numbers are not likely far off from Apple's high end iPad sales within the same amount of time for just one region....

I don't doubt that sales of the Xoom are lower than expected, but the picture is not nearly as dreary as this article would have us believe.

[PG-PG]

04:28 PM on 04/10/2011

The problem with Android tablets is the lack of having a phone built into it. Tables WITHOUT built-in phones is a STEP BACKWARDS! Why should people carry two devices (phone and tablet) when smart phones -- such as the EVO 4G do both?

Yes, the Apple tablets are popular, but the Apple crowd will make anything Apple releases look popular. It is a market for people who like / follow Apple (I think some call it a large niche market).

If you want to sell to the non-Apple people, it has to be devices that are forward thinking and don't create problems or take steps backward. Going to tablet and phone is a major step backwards.

The only advantage the XOOM has over say the HTC EVO 4G is the screen size and the disadvantage of two devices out weights the larger screen.

[Akpresto]

02:33 PM on 04/09/2011

The xoom is too expensive. Plus, Motorola has not impressed me with their smartphones like the cliq, the droid, etc. They are glitchy and unreliable. Personally, I'm waiting to see how the Toshiba Tablet performs. I don't need WiMaxx on my tablet, because I have a phone that can tether it's internet connection. Plus, I expect I'll be using my tablet in range of a WiFi network most of the time. Xoom was first out of the gate, but between the price and the manufacturer, I'm not surprised by the poor sales.

[Hardyman1966]

01:55 PM on 04/09/2011

...as if Apple is the only one capable of making foreign companies manufacture equipment for them.  It's a tablet, people.  And like the iPhone, until the iPad is capable of actually blowing you, who gives a rat crap?  :)

[PizzaGuy1]

11:50 AM on 04/08/2011

Used both extensively. Xoom wins hands down.

[PalletJack]

01:38 PM on 04/08/2011

Even if the Xoom is single most incredible product ever created, if nobody buys it, it doesn't "win".

[Sheku Sheriff]

02:16 PM on 04/13/2011

How did the Xoom win hands down when people are standing in lines all over the world for the ipad2 and there is not a single line anywhere for the Xoom?

[HazeBlaze]

09:43 AM on 04/16/2011

In terms of performance, the Xoom does win hands down... I have both. People are not standing in lines for the iPad 2 due to it's performance, but rather b/c they think it's 'cool'... and most people don't even know what a Xoom is!

[Jesse Burnette]

09:20 AM on 04/08/2011

I wonder if it's occurred to any of the posters here that they're the only ones who actually give a damn about this rivalry? Motorola's executives sure don't, they're a major client of ours and they're higher ups all use Apple products. Seriously. We closed a dinner business meeting early, so Motorola's exec team could make it to the Apple store in Reston Town Center before it closed. Motorola's training coordinator uses an iPad for just about everything. It's hilarious to me that people are such b

[JohnTheMac]

10:10 AM on 04/08/2011

It is funny. I think all the posters here (me included) are a bit warped!
Overall, we're all generally enthused over technology, which is fine.
I can understand liking products a lot, and even going a bit nuts over them. This happens with computers, TVs, Priuses (priusi? or something), or kitchen appliances! So it's sort of human nature.
There's something especially nasty that the internet can bring out, and the anonymous nature of it that let's people go loose with zingers and personal attacks. I like the zingers myself, and don't take things personally.
I'm sure the "usuals" on these boards would get along great in person at a keg party, and probably let loose about some aspect of their "chosen platform" that irks them or something the "other side" has that they would love.
At some point, it's just amazing that half of this stuff works at all!
Louis CK sums it up brilliantly in this set of rants!
Perfect for a Friday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

[gazmac]

02:10 AM on 04/08/2011

If it's all about price then the rest have lost - for the next couple of years at any rate. Apple's traditional pricing approach of premium prices for premium products was abandoned with the iPad. Sure, it's a premium product but the price is highly competitive. Apple has bought up the supply chain, investing $3.8billion to guarantee panel shipments going forward. The huge scale of Apple's buying power doesn't just mean cheaper unit costs; critically it means the competition is both scrambling to secure supply and at higher prices than Apple is paying. Cupertno doesn't stand still while the rest can't seem to get their corporate brains beyond the copycat-plus-more-specs strategy. Having said all that the real deal with Apple is what Jobs has always gone on about: the intersection of the liberal arts and technology, ie. making stuff easier to do. Whether a tablet works for you depends on what you want to do but it's a fallacy it's just for 'consuming'. I write on my iPad, record my mediocre guitar playing on it and finger paint, to name but a few 'creative' things. So when eventually the rest do catch up on price, and indeed start undercutting Apple, the story will change but Apple will remain the gold standard (think iOS v Android in the phone space), not on price or specs but on usability and ecosystem. And talking ecosystem, the really big news this year from Apple could be the imminent opening of its huge newly built

[gazmac]

02:26 AM on 04/08/2011

Lost the last word of my comment - should read 'newly built datacenter'

[jsrl317]

09:01 PM on 04/07/2011

LOL is all I have to say. Motorola, always late, always slow always too expensive.

[duttyfoot]

08:30 PM on 04/07/2011

motorola got what they deserve. they should have taken apples example and used it to there benefit. why the heck would you only advertise the more expensive tablet and keep the cheaper wifi version hidden away. originally i was thinking of getting the xoom but i think i will wait for the samsung galaxy 10.1 tab instead.

[Rickter]

08:01 PM on 04/07/2011

When they make one that will print over my work network, I'll get one. Until then, most tablets are just a big ipod, nothing more.

I'll take laptop of my iPad any day.

[Rickter]

08:02 PM on 04/07/2011

err make that I'll take my laptop OVER my iPad anyday (no of)..

[usedtowork]

10:12 AM on 04/10/2011

"Print"?

What's that, old timer?

[Spock]

07:54 PM on 04/07/2011

Why would I spend $600 on a Xoom when you can get an Ipad?

Motorola should have priced it better.

[Gigity]

04:55 PM on 04/07/2011

The Android marketplace on phone is a total joke. Why would anyone in their right mind get one of these when it's more than likely going to be the same experience? Get a cheap laptop. They do infinitely more than the iPad and Xoom combined.

[Uhgg]

07:06 PM on 04/07/2011

Well my smart phone is used as a hot spot for my lap top when I travel

[Gigity]

09:30 PM on 04/07/2011

Yep, and unless you jailbreak an iPhone you have to pay out the wazoo to get that feature on an iPhone.

[HazeBlaze]

09:58 AM on 04/16/2011

I've found just as much content on my Evo as I had on my iPhone 3GS... in fact I prefer Android Market for the simple fact that it seems like I find more free apps I enjoy than I did on iPhone.

BUT I agree with you when it comes to tablets.... the iPad has a huge advantage in apps at the moment. I still like the Xoom's OS a lot better though... it's more like a handheld computing experience.

I have a laptop, iPad, and a Xoom. And while I agree, you can do a lot more with your laptop... tablets are just far more convenient.

[Mike Orozco]

04:19 PM on 04/07/2011

Everyone keeps talking about price and features, but one reason that lot of people choose Apple over other brands is the Apple-experience. Apple has the Apple Retail Store, with real people to help you solve problems. If your iPad, has a problem, you can bring it in, show the genius, and have it repaired or replaced on the spot. Where else can that be done? I am confident that customer service is an often-overlooked benefit that Apple provides to their customers that no one can match. A couple of days ago, I was with a friend that had his iPhone replaced in about 25 minutes, without an appointment at an Apple Store. Try to have this kind of service done with most items that are past 30 days of ownership. Great service is something that is priceless and is why people are willing to pay more, even though for a tablet, they actually are paying about the same or even less than the competition.

[JohnTheMac]

04:58 PM on 04/07/2011

Look out! The AntiApple Cultists are gonna jump all over you!
Yes, what you mention here is rarely mentioned on these boards.
I had an original iphone that lost it's touch sensitivity, so you couldn't answer the phone (I used the button on the headphones meanwhile).
I was in Atlantic City that day, and went to the Apple Store on the pier. The guy there told me I needed an appointment for the genius bar. OK, when's the next open appointment? 5 minutes. OK, haha.
So, in a few minutes, he looked at it, checked it out, and said there was a replacement part.
He pulled an envelope from under the counter, and pulled out a new phone. He swapped the SIM cards and said I could make and receive calls, but all my data would have to wait until I got home to sync. Actually, I think the mobileMe info started syncing as soon as I set up my ID and password.
Small details count. The replacement phone was fully charged. I hit the ground running.
Like any product, things go wrong, so it's not a great question to ask "Can things go wrong?". The better question is "What happens when things go wrong?"

[666dorado]

06:03 PM on 04/07/2011

but what about flash and usb!!!!???!!!

[DefineReality]

06:08 PM on 04/07/2011

It's not just an Apple experience dude, it happens to anyone who's with a company who is about customer service.

I live on the west coast and I happened to be out in Norfolk for a family trip last month. My EVO had an issue where the charger wasn't actually staying in and charging my phone. I took my phone into the Sprint store, waited like 5 minutes for a technician to come talk to me.

After talking with them, they said they had the part to fix the phone and if I came back in an hour it would be taken care of. Sure enough, an hour later, I came back and my phone was sitting there waiting for me, completely fixed. I thanked them and walked out, no charge on anything.

How was this customer service any different from the Apple store? As far as 30 days ownership, I bought my EVO opening day and I've had it nearly a year now.

[666dorado]

06:16 PM on 04/07/2011

it's the same customer service. but you're talking about 1 phone. the discussion is about apple as a company as a whole, how there are so many intangibles to purchasing their products (software, hardware, design, etc.) that are more than just hardware specs and price.

when you buy an ipad, presumably you are buying an apple experience. not just a tablet.

when you bought your EVO, were you buying a sprint experience that other phone manufacturers couldn't provide? or were you just buying a phone?

[JohnTheMac]

08:23 AM on 04/08/2011

Glad things worked out for you.
Now what if I had a Samsung Galaxy Tab I bought off of EBay.
I'm having trouble with a power switch or whatever.
Can I take it to the Samsung Retail Store?

I can take any Apple product to an Apple Retail Store, whether I bought it online or off of EBay!