Google Says It’s Activating 550,000 Android Phones A Day

Google is “enjoying high consumer success” with YouTube, Android and Chrome, CEO Larry Page said Thursday on a quarterly earnings call, but for the second quarter in a row Google TV seems to have dropped off the company radar. Instead, Page highlighted Android and Google+, the company’s social media venture that has gained 10 million users in its first few weeks in operation. “One billion items have been shared and received” over Google+, Page said. “We want to create services that people use twice a day like a toothbrush,” he said, adding the company is only at “one percent of what we can accomplish.”

On the mobile side, Google is logging 550,000 Android activations a day, said Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora. Total activations to date are 135 million, up from 100 million two months ago, Senior Vice President Susan Wojcicki said. More than 400 Android devices are available globally, she said, with six billion apps downloaded from Android Market to date, double that of “a few months ago,” she said. More than 250,000 apps are available at Android Market, she said.

Last week Google began renting movies and selling phones and books from Android Market, Wojcicki said, and early in Q2 it launched a beta music service allowing Android users to upload their music to the cloud. The company is expanding beyond entertainment for mobile devices, she said. “Phones are also becoming key to the shopping experience, making shopping mobile and local,” Wojcicki said. She said the company launched a mobile app for Google Wallet and Google Offers, and both are currently in field trials.

Google reported revenue of $9.03 billion for Q2 ended June 30, a 32 percent increase from Q2 2010, it said. Net income for the quarter was $2.51 billion, compared with $1.84 billion in Q2 2010, it said.

Analysts rewarded Google’s Q2 results with positive reviews Friday. Benchmark Capital boosted its 2011 earnings per share estimate from $34.35 to $35 with a price target of $700 per share. Barclays Capital upped its price target to $730 from $675, calling Google a “mature slow-grower” that could change to “innovator beyond search,” a shift, it said, that “could drive multiple expansion.” Collins Stewart raised its second half estimates by six to eight percent and raised its price target to $725 from $680. Its “buy” recommendation was based on expectations Google will “post strong revenue growth on international, display and mobile.” Google closed up $68.46 Friday to $597.40.