Why didnt Google just play nice to get the N1 on all 4 carriers again? (Samsung did it)

[ap3604]

Just saw on Engadget how Samsung accomplished the goal that Google failed at: Getting its Galaxy phone line on all 4 carriers

Why again didnt Google just play nice and be flexible to the carriers demands?

Why not allow Verizon and Sprint to have a little control over their versions of the N1 in order to ensure the N1 becomes a national success?

If Samsung can accomplish this, why couldnt Google?

Seems like such a waste of a perfect opportunity

Verizon ropes in Samsung Fascinate, US Cellular gets a Galaxy S too -- Engadget

 

[Rusty]

Because the Nexus One is supposed to be the Google experiance phone, not the Sprint/Verizon experiance.

Besides, if Google wanted they could have released a CDMA version SIM free, but they didn't for whatever reason. They don't need a carriers co-operation to release a phone that can run over their network.

 

[outoffocus]

samsung has been in the mobile phone business for many years and has offered the telcos literally hundreds of different phones. samsung is the largest consumer electronics co in the world.

google went direct to the consumer to shake things up a bit. telcos did not like this all that much. who knows how things will play out over the next 10 years.

for those customers on carriers that do not carry N1, there are (now) plenty of new android phone offerings to keep them happy. i could give a crap if N1 is on all carriers. why would you?

 

[ap3604]

I could give a crap if N1 is on all carriers. why would you?

If Google had the N1 on all 4 carriers then sales would have been greater and MOST IMPORTANTLY they would be more inclined to come out with a Nexus Two.

I could give a crap if other random android phone's are on other carriers. All I care about is the continued success and updates of the Nexus One/Two.

 

[lunatic59]

If Google had the N1 on all 4 carriers then sales would have been greater and MOST IMPORTANTLY they would be more inclined to come out with a Nexus Two.

I don't believe that's a logical assumption, unless you mean by "being on all 4 carriers" you mean have subsidized handsets in the physical stores for customers to try. This in my opinion is why the N1 was not a greater success. People want to touch and play with a phone before they buy it and for Google to not have a retail presence where people could get their hands on one, really limited their marketability.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

The problem is that you don't get the Google experience if you are tied to a carrier. My Google experience doesn't come with At&t branding everywhere and At&t apps that are installed permanently on my phone. I really enjoy that I am "off the grid". At&t is just a pipeline I just use for data and a few phone calls. My big issue is that when it is time to upgrade I don't know what I am going to do. So far the N1 is the only phone you can buy off contract in the USA. If google doesn't come out with a N2 then I might SOL. With the new Dual Core Snapdragons coming out an upgrade might be sooner then I thought.

 

[Talderon]

Because the Nexus One is supposed to be the Google experiance phone, not the Sprint/Verizon experiance.

Besides, if Google wanted they could have released a CDMA version SIM free, but they didn't for whatever reason. They don't need a carriers co-operation to release a phone that can run over their network.

They could not just release a "SIM FREE" version as CDMA is SIM-less. In order to get a phone activated on either Verizon or Sprint, they need to add the ESN to the Allowed list. If Google did release the phone without their cooperation, they could just disallow any Nexus One ESN onto their network and they would be worthless.

I agree, Google did the right thing by not caving into their demands for control. It would have diminished the N1 on those carriers and made them less of a Google phone and more of a crippled carrier phone.

 

[sourmilk]

if the n1 was released as a gimped version based on the demands of carriers, then it wouldn't be an n1 anymore other than in hardware. also, vzw did release the n1. it's called the incredible. nearly identical and fits better into their droid series marketing. as for sprint, they're focusing on selling the evo. both the incredible and evo are much more profitable than the n1 would have been for vzw and sprint so i don't see any reason why they would release a competing phone in the form of the n1. also, cdma doesn't use sim cards so google wouldn't be able to do what they did with at&t and release an unlocked cdma version, since the carriers can just refuse to activate it.

 

[chris0101]

There was a Nexus One designated for Verizon that was cancelled because of the HTC Incredible. CDMA isn't like GSM as was pointed out; phones have to be activated. Hopefully we'll get a more modular system as 4G comes around that supports many carriers. Technically, we haven't had 4G yet. LTE and WiMax are more like 3.9G and 3.75G respectively, at least not in their current implementation. LTE Advanced for example is a 4G network. I too hope that we get more Google experience phones.

 

[Drhyde]

While the statements above are true, Google could have indeed increased their sales had they have offered the phone to Verizon and Sprint. They could have still sold it on their website. The Incredible and EVO 4G are awesome phones, but the most popular is likely the Motorola Droid and it got their because of Verizon's network and customer base.