Business Insider reports on a research note from Deutsche Bank estimating sales of Motorola's Android-based Xoom tablet at only about 100,000 units since its late February launch, based on Android developer statistics showing that only 0.2% of Android devices accessing the Android Market during the second half of March had the Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" operating system installed. The Xoom is currently the only device on the market running Honeycomb.
The Guardian runs through the calculation, finding 100,000 units to be a reasonable result for Xoom sales based on piecing together data from publicly-available sources on usage and market share, although the number could be a bit higher.
Mobile advertising firm Chitika has seen similar indications in its tracking of Internet browsing habits via its extensive ad network, finding the iPad outnumbering the Xoom 65-to 1 on its network.
Taken on its own, 100,000 units in a little over a month on the market for the Xoom is not a terrible number, especially considering that the device has only been launched in the United States, but it certainly appears to pale in comparison to the iPad and suggests that competitors have yet to launch a tablet product to capture consumers' imaginations anywhere nearly as successfully as Apple has.
Apple sold 300,000 iPads (including pre-orders) on its launch day in April 2010, reaching the one million mark after just 28 days. All told, Apple shipped nearly 15 million iPads in 2010 and has already released the second-generation iPad, although the company has yet to release sales numbers for the new model. Surveys have continued to show, however, strong consumer preference for the iPad over competing tablet products.
