I do not believe for a minute that this is a fad or a just another of those "early failures" as pointed out.
The popularity is incredible at the moment.
One registry publishes their pre-reg data. This is ONE REGISTRY!
1.WEB157,620
2.SHOP98,231
3.SITE74,732
4.NYC39,650
5.HOTEL39,257
6.MUSIC31,755
7.FILM23,952
8.ECO22,048
9.SPORT21,873
10.LONDON20,117
11.ONLINE19,864
12.BLOG19,421
13.APP18,703
14.FREE18,694
15.LOVE16,789
16.VIP15,015
17.ONE14,226
18.RADIO13,685
19.MONEY13,091
20.AFRICA13,036
21.VEGAS12,664
22.LAW12,356
23.STORE12,311
24.MED11,762
25.DESIGN11,326
26.MIAMI10,792
27.GAY10,745
28.SECURE10,590
29.QUEBEC10,581
30.PARIS10,555
31.PHONE10,542
32.NEWS10,450
33.EARTH10,411
34.SEX10,327
35.WINE10,262
36.GREEN9,895
37.HAMBURG9,517
38.MOVIE9,340
39.MOSCOW8,936
40.CAR8,927
41.LIVE8,841
42.BUSINESS8,833
43.MOBILE8,721
44.SCOT8,612
45.MADRID8,374
46.BUY8,345
47.CITY8,144
48.MEDIA8,024
49.CLOUD7,809
50.SKI7,773
Notice that most of the items listed have not even been released to the public yet.
Data from United Domains is:
1,487,576
Total Pre-Registrations (real time)
2,942
Pre-Registrations this Month (real time)
389
Pre-Registrations Today (real time)
So, is early regs a key to predictable success???
It would be hard to quantify that question without ALL registries releasing their pre-reg numbers.