T-Mobile G1 pre-order numbers way too astronomical

By on Oct 16, 2008 at 1:33 AM
Opinions October 16, 2008

Well, it seems many of our readers had been scratching their heads regarding the ridiculous number of G1s that T-Mobile allegedly sold during pre-orders. If you compare those numbers to the iPhone sales for their first weekend, there is a big discrepancy. The iPhone 3G hit a million during its first weekend, but it was launched in 20 different countries. For the G1 to hit those numbers where pre-orders are available to T-Mobile customers only is, well, a little ridiculous. You also have to consider the fact that everyone and their mother knew the iPhone was coming a little over a month before it was released – has your mother even heard of the G1?

The astronomically ludicrous number was formulated by a mathematician at The Motley Fool by taking a little speculation, adding some basic arithmetic, and then setting the blogosphere ablaze. T-Mobile and Google were probably grinning ear-to-ear when they saw this news burning the Internet like an uncontrolled wildfire. Unfortunately, the numbers are PROBABLY closer to 200k – 300k in terms of actual pre-order sales, and that is a BIG maybe.

Information Week decided to contact the folks over at The Motley Fool and this is what they came up with:

I contacted Anders Bylund, the author of the original Motley Fool article that hundreds of stories are citing. I was curious as to how he got these figures and he gave me his rationale.

He cited a Cens.com article that said, “according to industry insiders, T-Mobile is planning to order a total of between 1.5 million and 2 million units of G1 with HTC in the near future, including 400,000 to 500,000 to be sold in the fourth quarter of this year.”

Then, Bylund cited T-Mobile selling out of pre-order units, and tripling the number of phones initially available. He then tripled the 500,000 number to get 1.5 million.

There you have it, folks. A likely miscalculation sent everybody nuts about just how well the G1 was really doing. Don’t get us wrong, the G1 is probably selling like hot cakes and it’s a new device with a platform we really like, but it seems that it’s not going to be dethroning the current champ of best first week sales.

[Via InformationWeek]

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20 Comments

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  • Zahid

    I have been following the BGR for quite some time. Seems to me that the people behind this blog have some strong feelings in favour of apple in general. On the other hand, any effort particularly from RIM is not appreciated and most of the times ridiculed. Seems like you guys are starting to wage a fight against android as well. However, if you loose objectivity in your analyses then you also loose the value of your comments. This was just my evaluation.

  • http://www.bgr.com Marc Flores

    In our defense, most blogs in general do not have an objective analysis of anything – they’re all subjective. And just because we made a correction on ill-supported gossip doesn’t mean we’re bashing Android. We’ve done nothing but support the G1 and Android the last few weeks. Perhaps re-reading might help any “evaluation” of our posts.

  • John

    @ Zahid

    Obviously you haven’t, otherwise you’d know that BGR is much more fond of RIM products than Apple’s.

    Considering how much that 1.5 million number has been bandied around, its good to know that its not actually true. Whether you like Android or not, letting inflated numbers hang around like that isn’t good for the platform. (and as I recall, Apple selling a million iPhone 3Gs the first weekend gained a fair bit of ridicule since it launched in 20 countries)

    P.S. (putting on English teacher hat) Its LOSE, not LOOSE.

  • erick

    sadly enough my mom asked me why I haven’t asked for this phone for christmas so I believe the preliminary number cause hell my 55 year old mother knew of this phone

  • Adam

    This really equates to nothing more than a stacked between-the-sheets romance that BG has with Apple and it’s iPhone.

    It seems that you guys are starting to write less like a tech column and more like Perez Hilton or Superficial.

  • Duvi

    Stop coming here? It’s that simple.

    Even if BG loves the iPhone/Apple/AT&T more, so effin what. You still come back because he got the good ish that makes you sneak peaks while at work (knowing damn well you should be doing something productive) at the site to see if new ish has been posted.

  • Jeremiah

    This definitely makes more sense, although I am surprised at how much people do know about the G1, simply because it’s the Google phone. My sister was looking at it before I even pointed her in that direction!

  • http://everythingblaxx.blogspot.com Blaxx

    Co-sign Duvi. BGR can put my productivity to a halt at a moment’s notice. Like the G1 review a couple posts back? That’s going to keep me from doing any work til at least 8:30

  • http://www.androidauthority.com/ Stefan Frank

    I said this same thing the day the Fool.com story came out. Glad to see I’m not the only one thinking a bit.

    http://www.androidauthority.com/index.php/2008/10/13/t-mobile-has-pre-sold-15-million-g1-android-smartphones/

    And we’re an Android site, so if there is a bias, it surely wouldn’t be towards Apple. The bias is towards what’s real, not what somebody pulls out of their butt and decides to publish. That Motley Fool article was junk from the moment it hit the wire.

  • H.N.I.C.

    FUCK G1(HTC) and T-MugYou!

    WOW, that SpaZ felt good:)

    @ Adam; shut the HELL up! BG & Jesus are my homeboys!

    LOL

  • H.N.I.C.

    LOL

  • http://www.k5live.com Likeabite

    I do agree that BG has an affinity for anything iPhone/Apple/AT&T but they’ve also taken a liking to the Android as well so they’re just reporting facts here…while still staying close to the brands they love the most lol

  • http://www.constantlycomplaining.com/blog ryanol

    I am not sure if the numbers are inflated but I think that the demand for an open source smartphone os has the potential to draw many early adopters…ie steal marketshare from RIM, Palm, MS and maybe even apple.

    I have had BB’s for the last three years…and frankly they kick ass for email but that’s about it. I saw the iphone and although the shiny exterior and flashy interface were tempting the locked down software and high price of at&t’s data plans kept me on the sideline.

    T-mobile finally has brought 3G online, they have always been the most open in regards to data/ringtones/not crippling wifi on phones and now finally they have a phone that can take full advantage of these factors.

  • dnaL0R

    only in america…

  • dnaL0R

    literally, for now… haha

  • ReL

    @ Zahid also probably got a 350 on the Verbal portion of his SATs.

    I personally find BGR to be unbiased on its reporting. It does, however, focus more on RIM exclusives, big apple announcements and coverage of new entrants (ie Android) in the field. Lets remember that any good is good news and that more competition favors the consumer.
    Keep up the good work-everyone at BGR!!

  • John

    These numbers were inflated from the beginning. They may be what they plan to sell or what they ordered, but they do not reflect on how many have been sold thus far. Likeabite: More than likely, this OS will not steal from RIM for now as they make business centered products. I support Android, but think about it. The iPhone 3G sold in 20 countries and on the first weekend sold ~1,000,000 units. This was after they had a successful first product, added Exchange support, and have a mega cult following. You and I may like Android, but I would bet the majority of the people on the street have never heard of it. I don’t understand why people come on these message boards and post that Apple sucks, or the G1 is a bad phone. Shut your mouths and let people use what they want.

  • Moe

    Ya who continually cry that BGR is in the sack with Apple and being biased have options. I remember this hot girl in High School. She was good, but continually frustrated me with how she dressed. She had such a hot bod, but dressed like shit. I had two options. Stay with her, tag that up and keep it around and watch it blossom, or dump the tramp and move on.

    Ya can appreciate BGR’s reporting, agree (or disagree peacefully) and see this blog blossom. Or you can drop BGR and move on to a blog that fits your bias (yes, your bias).

    The way I see it, BGR has been sleeping around with Apple, RIM, Android and many others. I appreciate his reporting, because he can tell us, who can perform in the sack and who gives him the ibby jivees. I prefer he gets the ibby jivees and lets me know as to avoid making the mistake myself.

    Move on biatches!!!

  • BrakTalk

    And this is the expert analysis within the financial sector? Certainly not representative of all the oracles we have on Wall Street but this completely worthless analysis takes the cake. It’s no wonder how the markets are gtting tossed around in this sea of BS market analysis.

  • JonnyBruha

    Is that the world you really want? How exciting would it be if everyone had an iPhone and ran around comparing which apps they have on their homescreen (like top friends on myspace) and nobody could send pictures to each other over Bluetooth?

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