T-Mobile has already sold 1.5 MILLION HTC G1 handsets, a number that is absolutely astounding especially considering the circumstances surrounding that number. The phone isn’t even publicly available yet, meaning 1.5 million have put blind faith in the phone absolutely rocking.
And yes, the phone does absolutely ROCK. But what is even more impressive is that pre-orders are currently available ONLY to existing T-Mobile customers- something the Magenta Men designed to reward loyalty. So how many MORE phones will T-Mobile sell once the company opens up sales to ANYone? Or asked another way, how many Verizon, Sprint and AT&T customers will hit the exit door early to hop on the Android bandwagon… with T-Mobile?
By the way, that 1.5 Million is only online pre-orders… and estimated 1 million more may have place pre-orders in physical retail stores, which would put the PRE-ORDER amount at 2.5 million. How many phones do T-Mobile and HTC have to go around? How much demand could they fulfill? Because it seems like regardless of how many they make… there will be someone there to buy them.
You’ve got to assume that if 2.5 million have already been sold, in the next 2.5 months another 2 million or so will be sold. With advertising campaigns, word of mouth buzz and everything else driving demand (like the holidays)… We could see 5 Million G1 devices sold by year’s end.
And remember, this is just ONE Android phone on ONE carrier. All the custom applications have an immediately HUGE number of potential users and that number will only GROW as time goes on.
One thing is for sure… Verizon and AT&T are taking a close, close look at the sales figures T-Mobile is making and wondering what they should do? Is it time to give in and hop on the Android bandwagon? I would say Yes… or you’re just going to see more and more Android handsets on T-Mobile and Sprint that continue to attract traditional mobile customers from their base.
This news is GREAT for T-Mobile, HTC, Google, Android the OHA and everyone who has any type of interest or investment in Android or the mobile industry.
Congratulations to T-Mobile and HTC… these numbers are a well earned reward for being the first brave companies to take on the Android Challenge, and for passing with FLYING colors!
[Via P2]