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Predicting how many individual units of a device will be sold is difficult.  However, many companies usually predict the amount based on how the product is doing, then they announce that number to the public.  Usually, that number is somewhat low so when and if that company beats the predicted number, it makes them look good.  If they sold less than the predicted number than it looks pretty bad.  Recently, HTC’s CEO Peter Chou came out with a number of G1’s he expects to be sold by the end of the year - 600,000.

In an interview with MercuryNews, Chou released this number as well as what he predicts to happen with the G1 in 2009.  HTC is renowned for their smartphones using Windows Mobile, however, with the G1, they opted in using Google’s platform, Android.

His reason was simply:

“Of course we are not de-prioritizing Windows Mobile by any means. However, with Android we can do more.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t release any specific numbers for 2009, but he did say that he believes the G1 can compete against Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry, and other big smartphones.  When asked why he thinks the G1 is better than the iPhone he answered by saying:

“HTC products are very pragmatic and productive. We have spent a tremendous effort to make our product better… It may not be as sexy as others. But it’s very nice, very mature and a very good experience.”

Lastly, he added that the G1 would do better than the iPhone atleast in the United States because “Americans are very keyboard-oriented.”  It will be interesting to see the end of the year numbers for the G1 as well as how they compare to the iPhone.

Read [MercuryNews] Via [mocoNews]