T-Mobile Could Sell 2 Million G1s Through 2009
According to Taiwanese news site CENS, HTC expects the first available Google Android device to generate a huge gain in fourth-quarter revenue.
The T-Mobile G1, which made its public debut last week, will be available Oct. 22 for $179. The touch-screen device, developed by Google, T-Mobile and HTC to rival the widely popular Apple iPhone, uses T-Mobile's high-speed 3G network to offer mobile Web access.
CENS, quoting industry insiders, said T-Mobile is planning to order between 1.5 million and 2 million G1s from HTC in through 2009, with between 400,000 and 500,000 to be sold in the fourth quarter of 2009. Overall, HTC expects shipments of the G1 to contribute billions to next year's sales.
The G1, along with 3G support, also offers Wi-Fi, GPS, a full QWERTY keyboard and a host of other features. It also enables access to the Android Market, the open-source Linux mobile operating system's application platform where third-party developers can create and offer applications to be downloaded to the device. The market offers a similar experience to the iPhone's AppStore, but Google has maintained that it will take a hands-off approach and enable developers to offer applications without fees, review or Google approval.
While HTC is expecting a boom in sales fueled by T-Mobile's G1, it's uncertain whether it will reach the numbers of Apple's iPhone, which shipped 1 million first-generation devices during its first quarter in summer 2007 and earlier this year sold 1 million iPhone 3G models through its first weekend of release.