Google (GOOG), Motorola Mobility’s (MMI) “Xoom” Sales Remain a Mystery

Conflicting reports on the number of sales of Motorola Mobility’s (MMI) “Xoom” tablet, which includes Google’s (GOOG) new version of its “Android” operating system, dubbed “Honeycomb,” continue to emerge, and it evidently won't be until earnings are reported by Motorola before we get the actual numbers.

Some have said sales are weak and others, like Verizon (NYSE:VZ), have said Xoom is selling "extremely well."

However, Trip Chowdhry with Global Equities Research today insists there’s a problem, writing that Xoom sales are “very weak,” with the tablet suffering from “poor software quality” in Honeycomb, and poor battery life.

As Chowdhry sees it, without citing specific sources for his conclusions, “Google Honeycomb is suffering from frequent application freezes and crashes,” and “the battery life is very inconsistent – lasts sometimes for 2 hours, and sometimes for 6 hours. The battery standby life is mere 10 – 12 hours vs. 30 days on Apple iPad.”

Further, Chowdhry sees numerous user interface issues: The “auto-wrap” on text is “completely missing” when text is magnified on screen, “which just shows, Google is missing attention to simple details.” i

Overall, the Honeycomb UI “is extremely complicated and confusing,” he writes, and, “users are frustrated” because the UI “just does not come naturally – you really have to work on it,” according to users he’s heard from.

Chowdhry’s conclusion is that Google’s approach of, “‘By the Geeks, For the Geeks, Of the Geeks’ will struggle to get mass adoption – probably will be relegated to Tech Community only.”

Motorola Mobility was trading at $26.93, down $0.23, or 0.86 percent, as of 12:48 PM EST.




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