Google expected to sell 5-6 million Nexus Ones in 2010

Although Google's first entry into smartphone hardware hasn't gone without a hitch, the sheer advertising power of the internet giant has ensured that the Nexus One has been met with intense excitement.

Analyst Doug Anmuth of Barclays Capital has been crunching the numbers from the Nexus One launch in co-operation with US carriers Verizon and T-Mobile and predicts that the latest Android handset is on course to shift 5-6 million units in 2010 alone.

That's a monumental figure, and would place the Nexus one well in the lead of all other Android handsets, and would also equate to between $2.5 and $3 billion in revenue for Google.

Even if it only turns out to sell half that figure, the Nexus One would establish Google as a serious player in the hardware market, and change the sales model for smartphones forever.