A short time ago the Motorola Xoom Android tablet was being hailed as the first serious competitor to the Apple iPad, but as Motorola Mobility’s first quarter financial results loom closer, industry analysts are releasing their estimates of how well the tablet has sold—and even the most-generous of figures place the unit far, far behind the Apple iPad. The estimates follow reports earlier this month of startlingly low sales for both the Xoom and the Motorola Atrix tablets.
According to the Associated Press, Sanford Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu expects Motorola to announce it has sold some 200,000 Xoom tablets since the devices launched in late February—along with about 8.9 million phone handsets. And that’s the most-positive of third party estimates of Xoom sales: according to the Wall Street Journal, Global Equities analyst Trip Chowdry is pegging Xoom sales between 25,000 and 120,000 units. Estimates from Deutsche Bank earlier this month put the number of Xoom tablets sold at about 100,000.
In contrast, reports had Apple selling close to 1 million iPad 2 devices during its first weekend of availability…and the iPad 2 is still perpetually sold out at retailers, with shipping delays still in the one- to two-week range for online orders.
Motorola Mobility is set to deliver its first quarter financial results on Thursday, April 28.