Motorola's apparent reluctance to release details of how many Xoom tablets it's sold could be considered an indicator of the platform's health - or lack of it.

Estimates compiled by Deutsche Bank analysts paint an even bleaker picture, however, suggesting Motorola may have sold just 100,000 units since its February 24 launch. 

Numbers game

To put that figure in some kind of context, day one sales of the original iPad reportedly topped 300,000 units. Its successor is believed to have performed even better, with total sales for its launch weekend sitting at between 500,000 and 1 million.

The method used to finger Xoom's userbase is worth noting however.

Rather than surveying retailers or doing a sweep of consumers, Deutsche Bank's numbers are based on the percentage of Android owners running Honeycomb according to Google's own statistics.

The most recent assessment put Honeycomb's penetration of the platform's active base at 0.2 percent.

Given Xoom is the only Honeycomb device currently on the market, the firm believes it has a good fix on the figures, claiming they're broadly in line its own projections of 50,000 sold in Q1 2011, 150,000 following on in Q2.

Sweeter future?

Honeycomb's take up is, of course, likely to receive a boost when cheaper devices, such as Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 ($499) and 8.9 ($469), hit the market.

At its top end, Xoom retails for $799 without contract, although Motorola has also recently launched a cheaper $599 wi-fi only model.

[source: Boy Genius Report]