Initial sales of the Google Nexus One have been less than stellar and it now appears that Google's first-ever smartphone will not match up to its first year estimated sales.

Industry analysts had originally predicted that 3.5 million Nexus One smartphones would be sold via Google's online retail outlet this year, but a revised figure reduces this total by 70 per cent.

It is believed that despite the hype around its launch, a lack of mainstream marketing will impair consumer demand.

The forthcoming arrival of the HTC Desire, which has the same hardware as the Nexus One but adds a spruced-up user interface, is also likely to further dampen the impact of the Google Phone.

Goldman Sachs told ZD Net: "We forecast that Google sells 1.0 million Nexus One units in FY2010, benefiting from US carriers other than T-Mobile and non-US carriers such as Vodafone, promoting the device too, but suffering from limited marketing activity."

"Initial data-points were disappointing, possibly due to limited marketing and customer service challenges. Flurry estimated (based on mobile traffic) that Google sold 20,000 in the first week and 80,000 in the first month, both annualizing to 1 million."

If Google launches additional smartphones in the Nexus range then it might sell 2 million or more, but this is still relatively few when compared to the performance of the iPhone after it was launched.