Google to Stop Selling Nexus One Online

Posted 05/14/2010 at 1:15pm | by Paul Lilly

4

Comments

Print

Google has held firm that its Nexus One smartphone is selling just fine, even though it failed to make a dent into the Apple's iPhone market share, or any other major smartphone for that matter. That feeling of contentment -- if it ever really existed in the first place -- appears to be no more, and Google suddenly seems interested in pushing more Nexus One sales. To do that, the company needs to refocus its sales strategy, and that's exactly what Google is doing.

"While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the web store has not," Google wrote in an official blog post. "It's remained a niche channel for early adopters, but it's clear that many customers like a hands-on experience before buying a phone and they also want a wide range of service plans to choose from."

Having reached the above epiphany, Google said that once it increases the availability of Nexus One devices in retail locations, it will stop selling the handset online.

"Innovation requires constant iteration," Google added. "We believe that the changes we're announcing today will help get more phones to more people quicker, which is good for the entire Android ecosystem: users, partners and also Google."

We tend to agree, but why stop there? Under the Nexus One's current pricing model, only T-Mobile customers who are on an Individual plan qualify for the discounted handset pricing, which pegs the smartphone at $179. Everyone else -- including those who pay more for a Family plan -- have to shell out $529.