It was only a few months ago in January that Google’s Android based Nexus One SmartPhone made its debut, now we’re hearing that it’s getting ditched, at least in the US.
In a blog post we learned that Google would be closing its online Nexus store after the final batch of mobiles they have just received from the manufacturer have been sold.
“Once we sell these devices, the Nexus One will no longer be available online from Google” it said in the blog.
“Customer support will still be available for current Nexus One customers. And Nexus One will continue to be sold by partners including Vodafone in Europe, KT in Korea, and possibly others based on local market conditions.
“To ensure our developers have access to a phone with the latest Android OS, Google will be offering the Nexus One through a partner for sale to registered developers” the blog concludes.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Andy Rubin, Vice President of the Internet Search Engine giant said “the reason we cancelled it wasn’t because of the sales”.
Ok, so what was it then? I mean the phone’s a pretty good phone by all accounts and appears to have been successful. This was the phone that was even hailed as the ultimate iPhone killer.
Well apparently there were a couple of factors that led to Google’s decision to axe the Nexus store including rival Android phones on the market and the difficulty selling the Nexus One online on a global scale.
Google originally opted to sell the phone direct to customers via the internet instead of selling it through a carrier like other mobile phones; however, this strategy wasn’t as successful as it could have been and on top of that there were also numerous complaints about customer service or to be more precise, the lack of.
It’s not quite as bad as it sounds though as the phone will still be available to developers who want to make applications for the Android application store and it will still be available to buy from wireless retailers in Europe, Korea and possibly some parts of Asia, just not in the US.
The Wall Street Journal also reports that Ruben said in an interview that selling mobile phones online works but there are more interesting things they could do and some of those things haven’t been announced yet.
Wonder what Google have got in mind?
