2010 was touted as a big year for Google’s Android operating system, especially since the online search giant launched its first branded phone, the HTC-built Nexus One on Jan. 5 (see Nexus One Launch). And while the company remains mum on its number of units sold, Google CFO Patrick Pichette said the Nexus One is profitable, according to eWeek.com’s Clint Boulton (April 17).
“Google executives were upbeat about the Nexus One and Android smartphones overall on the first-quarter earnings call April 15,” Boulton wrote. “Pichette confirmed the Nexus One was a profitable business, though he wouldn’t disclose how many of the devices have been sold or other core economics.”
Recent sales estimates have been far from glowing. On March 16, mobile analytics firm Flurry said Google sold a mere 135,000 Nexus One units in its first 74 days on the market, Boulton added. “By comparison, Apple sold more than 1 million units of its first-generation iPhone through the same time. Verizon also shipped more than 1 million units of the Droid through 74 days.”
Boulton quotes Broadpoint AmTech analyst Ben Schachter, who estimates 200,000 Nexus Ones have been sold, contributing $106 million, or 2 percent, of Google’s net (first-quarter) revenue. That number should only go up, he says, as Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Vodafone will begin carrying the device this year.
Overall, Google said it has been getting 60,000 activations of Android-operating phones per day.
Sony Ericsson Posts First Profit Since 2008
Google wasn’t the only company surprising analysts by being in the black in the first quarter.
Last summer, the Sony Ericsson was coming off a nightmarish second quarter (see Sony Ericsson Loses $301M). Now, it seems to be climbing its way back.
After sinking for nearly two years, Sony Ericsson reported a first-quarter profit of $25 million, confounding analysts who had predicted continued losses, wrote W. David Gardner of InformationWeek (April 16).
“The company attributed the turnaround largely to strong sales of its smartphones and to its cost-cutting measures that brought its employee headcount to about 8,500 after layoffs of more than 3,000 employees,” he wrote.
“We are pleased to see the positive impact of both the launch of new products and the business transformation program improving the company’s results,” said Sony Ericsson President Bert Nordberg, in a statement. “Increases in both gross and operating margins show that we are on the right track to build the correct cost structure for our business organization and strategy.”
Norberg cited Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10, an Android phone, and the Vivaz Symbian phone as being well received by consumers, Gardner added.
- newsletter@iQmetrix.com
To read more about Google and Sony Ericsson, check out the following articles from iQmetrix News & Views:
Android Users Mostly Male: Survey
Verizon to Launch New Android Phone, the Devour
Handset Makers Feel the Economic Pinch; Face Shakeup in 2009
Tough Times for Sony Ericsson