Nexus One a Failed Experiment In Online Sales 366
shmG writes "The demise of the Google Nexus One phone is fairly straightforward: a lack of sales killed the product. While it will continue to sell through Vodafone in Europe, KT in Korea and a few others, the experiment of Google indicates that selling a phone direct to consumers online is dead. 'The bottom line is people like to look at phones in the store. Google has a lot to learn about phone sales, this is one lesson they learned.'"
Re:False (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Competition (Score:1, Interesting)
Yes, I think this is what the purpose of the phone was, that and pushing processor speed up. With all the other android phones out there now that have the "Google" experience, I don't see why they would see the need to have a specific "Google" phone. It's probably more of a sucess than a failure. Of course that's my opinion and I don't have any citations for the apple guys who might ask for them. I am pretty happy with my Motorola Driod and look forward to the update to Andriod 2.2. I had an iTouch and I think it will be the last thing I own from Apple, unless the company changes. I don't think very highly of Verizon since the customer service sucks (like everyone else out there these days really) and they are expensive, but where I live I have great coverage. I was several miles out on the Chesapeake Bay on my boat that broke down and I was able to call for a tow and look up parts on 3G while waiting. That's the only reason I stay with Verizon.
I heard it wasn't very good. (Score:3, Interesting)
Look, I was up for a new phone this summer (AT&T isn't going to cut me a break on my rates, so I'm going to get a new fucking phone every 18 months, even if that means I immediately flip it on eBay). WinMo is no longer viable - there are android and iphone apps for everything the WinMos had a lock on two years ago, and I wanted a finger interface. W7 will not be ready in time.
I considered both android and iPhone, and did a bunch of research on them. For all the limitations of the iPhone, none of them mattered to me that much. I would miss tethering, but I only used it 4-6 times per year. The Nexus One was intriguing, but - by Android users own admissions it fell short. The touchscreen was inferior to the iPhone (a big point of contention with my old WM, and one of the things I really liked on my wife's iPhone). A standout feature was the notification light...but it didn't work as planned, and Google appeared to have abandoned ever making work. And, honestly, I couldn't play with one before stroking a check for $600.
I got an iPhone 3, liked it, and upgraded to a 4 for the speed and camera (which is very good, btw). Sold the 3 for within $20 of what I paid. Now, I'm not very happy with the 4, or Apple in general, since the 4.0.1 update bricked my phone and Apple had no answer on how to fix it. Thank goodness for mac hackers or I'd be at an AT&T store asking them to replace my !@#$ @#$#% phone with something that worked. I shouldn't have to troll the mac equivalent of XDA to get my never-jailbroken, never-hacked iPhone to do a simple update.
I'm still in the market, but AT&T android handsets are crippled, the new Moto android handsets are hobbled and Verizon wants $30 more poer month for their service (which is no better than AT&T near me), and everyone else coverage makes AT&T's map look continuous. The Nexus was nice, but now it's gone, and there's no push to get a better android phone, just a fatter spec sheet. I was hoping a N-2 might be in the offing, and a real phone shootout would ensue in my house. Guess not.
The Nexus was the best phone purchase I ever made. (Score:4, Interesting)
I began considering the Nexus when Google first introduced it. Like most others, I was unsure because of the $529 price tag. My wife and daughter were also in the market for new phones. Having already owned an HTC G1, the question of Android performance was never an issue (I paid full price for that phone, too).
The issue for me was contracts. My contract with T-Mobile had expired, and I wasn't willing to lock into another one. T-Mobile had also just introduced some new no-contract plans, so I did some math.
I ran the numbers for getting a two-year contract with two new MyTouch 3Gs at the $149 subsidized price. I wanted an unlimited everything plan. Then I looked at the same idea, only I'd buy the MyTouch phones at retail ($399 each). with their no-contract Even More Plus plan. Over the course of the same two years, I would pay $500 *less* for the phones and the service, without a lock-in. Not only that, T-Mobile made me a great offer: if I purchased the phones in a retail store, I could pay $20 down on each, plus the sales tax (about $50 total for both phones), and then pay the phones off at $20 per month each, added to my bill, with no interest. I could pay off the phones at any time.
That $500 savings justified the cost of the Nexus. The girls love their MyTouch devices, and the Nexus is probably the best phone I've ever owned. I've already rooted and modded it. Buying it unlocked was a plus, especially when I traveled to Europe a few weeks ago: slip in a local SIM and off I went.
Perhaps I'm fortunate in that buying the phone at full price is something I can do, but the sales model is something that makes sense. I can see this becoming more common in the future: manufacturers create the devices, make them workable on multiple carriers (especially for data between AT&T and T-Mobile in the US), sell them unlocked and let people just pick a carrier and buy a plan.
Then again, I know what I want. I don't necessarily need to touch something to see it's value.
Re:Online isn't the problem, it's carrier subsidie (Score:3, Interesting)
in the us may be.
in europe it is very different. i haven't bought a subsidised phone since the n70 in 2005. the crapware loaded on that by vodafone that was unremoveable made be buy all phones after that sim free.
wasn't much of a change for me as i use all my phones on prepay so the price went up around 100. i even bought an iphone 3g on prepay. 630 if i remember rightly. when i go to a linux potd meeting i reckon 90% of the mobiles there are sim free. less hassle. you're dealing with fewer companies to get your device.
when nokia announced the n97 and it was looking initially like it would cost 700 most of my friends and mates were still interested. most didn't end up buying it as it was junk when it was released.
so i spent 400 on my htc hero and spend about 5 a month on credit. most of my data is on wifi when i'm at work, home or most of the locations i meet up with others so i only pay for a tiny amount of data.
the nexus one to me was of no interest as i want my next android phone to have a real keyboard (the htc hero was the cheapest android device i could find to test how i would like android). just a pity that motorola removed themselves from that list with the efuse debacle. htc removed themselves when they started paying ms royalties for every android device sold.
They DIDN'T EVEN TRY! (Score:5, Interesting)
Sorry for the uppercase, but this is infuriating: the Google online store was actively refusing to sell the damn phone to more than 95% of the world population!
There are tutorials all over the internet in all kind of languages with complicated and costly (more than US$ 100 on top of the official price) procedures to buy the Nexus One outside the US.
The thing has been available in Europe only after six months and has been frequently sold out for weeks in both stores and online stores. See e.g. the difficulties to buy it in the UK, France, Italy, eastern Europe, etc. from May to the beginning of July.
I've been trying to buy it (from Italy) for months and I've finally found one only three weeks ago thanks to a post on a forum that tipped the right store that had one available.
So before jumping to wrong conclusion, please try to avoid blocking more than 95% of the world population from your store (no jokes about starving African kids, please: Africa is less than 15% of the world population, and not everyone there is busy dying anyway). And keep in mind that people from Europe and some Asian countries get much better than the average American what these thing can do (the first thing I did with mine is installing bash and Python; and, yes, a powerful always-on pocket computer with GPS, constant internet access, camera and all kind of sensors can be programmed to do lots of new unusual useful things).
Re:False (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:False (Score:2, Interesting)
I played with friends iPhones...
And decided HELL NO.