Google Not selling phones anymore

[BiGMERF]

We all thought that Verizon dropped the Nexus, check this out

Verizon did not dump The Nexus One, Google getting out of the Phone Sales Business | Androidheadlines.com

 

[ap3604]

We all thought that Verizon dropped the Nexus, check this out

Verizon did not dump The Nexus One, Google getting out of the Phone Sales Business | Androidheadlines.com

What... the... hell?!

This had better be a late April Fool's Joke

 

[hipocrazy]

Interesting read. Thanks!

 

[Roze]

Your title is a tad misleading BiGMRF

The article was good until the speculation half way through. It's interesting but not sure if I'd follow with that speculation, lol. From my view, it's more cost benefit to make GSM phone vs CDMA since most countries use GSM. So producing CDMA would only target the US and a handful of other countries. GSM phones could be mass produced and shipped to most countries in the world. What the article failed to mention is that half of the support is with HTC, not just Google.

The real story here leads to the fact that the Nexus One’s new way of selling phones experiment is over and Google may be getting out of the cellular phone business. Not sure we will hear anything official from Google as it would be admitting failure and not be good for Android and themselves in general. This though a sign that they have closed up shop on the idea of changing how people buy cell phones.

This is nothing but speculation, the writer does not have enough facts to back this statement up.

I would say revolutionizing the Mobile industry with regards to how phones are sold is a failure, but does this mean that Google will 'pull out' of the phone business? Not necessarily.

 

[crabman]

If you dont have a story make one up.

 

[daffyduck]

Yep, I think the title of this thread should be changed to:
"Google not selling phones DIRECT anymore".

Good article though, thanks BigMerf.....

I also think this quote from the article is interesting:

"....but never the less Nexus One owners can take pride in owning a phone that has not been marketed to the masses and may even one day be a collector’s edition Android Phone."

I suspect that not many people will buy the N1 now in retail shops as there is too much competition from other equally well-spec'd phones running Android (thinking Desire, Incredible, Evo, etc), so we will continue to own a phone that is a little more "rare".....

 

[Snow_Fox]

Blah..

This actually had me worried for a moment.

For what its worth part of the issue may be that both the t mo and att version will work on each others network.. maybe not in terms of 3g.. but, they are functional phones..

If an n1 were to be made for verizon.. it would be stuck on verizon..

I am not saying it wouldn't sell..but, I could see that having a lot of future problems.

 

[ap3604]

This article is totally false. When I read it a few times, against my better judgment, I saw that there isn't a single quote from a real person in the entire article. The writer just says that the editor "talked to an executive at verizon"... Yeah right... give us a real executive name and I'll believe it. Otherwise STFU stupid paparazzi and quit lying just to get a few more hits at your website, it makes you look ridiculous

 

[Rusty]

Jeeze, that is almost as bad as the football articles in the UK, full of nothing presented as facts.

 

[cabinets]

This article is so full of punctuation errors in the first paragraph it's funny. This is not at all credible.

"a off topic conversation regarding our site with Verizon Executive they ran across a article about ‘Verizon choosing Incredible over The Nexus One’ and pointed it out to our Editor Chris Y. and said “That article is not correct , this story is not true.”

That is pathetic writing. ... "a off topic..." "a article..." Really

 

[BiGMERF]

like 50 percent of the articles out there its all speculation until officially announced. no different from some one getting pumped up abput an article saying 2.2 is coming for the nexus day one og IO. Until google says it no one knows sheez

 

[crabman]

C'mon guys. I'm sure you all recall just a few weeks ago Google publicly stated that they were making money with it, they were very happy with what they were getting out of it, they were in it for the long haul. Lets contemplate those one at a time.

Are they making money? There is no handset made which costs over 200 dollars to manufacture at this time. I defy anyone to prove they know what Google is paying HTC for those handsets but outside of the actual hardware expense Google did little to build that up with advertising and other costs. I think we can safely figure that Google is making a little money selling handsets although the profit is inconsequential compared to their core business. Lets consider a few related things here before we move on. Even I could see that Googles launch method and lack of advertising were unlikely to make for a best seller and no one would accuse me of being a skilled businessman with multiple product launches behind me. Yet Google did have many skilled people looking at this from all angles and they launched the venture anyways. Yes, I am saying Google knew that they were not going to move a large number of handsets up front and its something they could easily have changed if they wanted. They did this on purpose with their eyes open knowing full well what the likely outcome would be, consider that as you think about the second part of their official statement.

They are happy with what they are getting out of it. What exactly is that? It doesnt appear like profits were the point or they would have done things differently. Are we one big focus group? Was the point to spur innovation? Did they hope to raise the bar? Was it really an experiment in alternate channel sales? Some combination of those things? Something else? I have no uncle working for the company and I'm not going to toss out my best guess but its something to think about.

They are in it for the long haul. Cant do much but take this at face value. Certainly they have the war chest to play with smartphones as long as they want to whatever purpose.

Now thats what Google says publicly. When I weigh that against a blog post from someone who appears to be challenged in writing a complete sentence citing an unknown source it gives me pause. I cant see how I believe this, which makes little sense, over Googles public position.

 

[MartinS]

Jeeze, that is almost as bad as the football articles in the UK, full of nothing presented as facts.

As a Newcastle fan I can relate to this!

 

[RogerPodacter]

did the OP actually READ this article? it mentions not ONE fact about google leaving the phone business, its all speculation based on absolutely nothing. the first 1/4 of the article was interesting though, with the verizon executive.

 

[Fabolous]

Even if the original article was not very good in reasoning, or grammar, etc. (I didn't read it), it's pretty much true:

Official Google Blog: Nexus One changes in availability

 

[Roze]

Even if the original article was not very good in reasoning, or grammar, etc. (I didn't read it), it's pretty much true:

Official Google Blog: Nexus One changes in availability

Not quite, the article stated that through their uname Verizon source, that Google pulled the N1 out for Verizon. The article runs on alot of unfunded speculation (or jumping the gun) with saying:

The real story here leads to the fact that the Nexus One

 

[fangorious]

The Google Blog says they're going to stop selling direct and instead go thru carriers. I think the hypothesis that they just wanted to push the perception of what an Android phone can be is really strengthened by both Sprint and VZW not having the N1. Google just says to buy the Incredible or the Evo instead. I hope they decide to maintain their own branded phone as a constant example of What Can Be. I also hope that what ends up in AT&T and T-Mobile stores (are there any GSM resellers in the US?) retains the full unlocked Google-branded firmware. If we instead end up with carrier-branded Nexus devices I think that will be the real loss.

 

[BiGMERF]

HMMMM, GUess It was right after all

 

[zillah]

I wish they would discontinue the N1.

The resale value would skyrocket.

 

[Roze]

@fangorious: I hope that does't happen, since I agree with you, it'd be a loss for people that WANTS the real Android experience (i.e. vanilla OS without bloatwares and no delay updates). Retail wise, you can buy phones from Best Buy.

Anyone that bought the N1 though Vodaphone in the UK, would you care to shed some light if there's any carrier-branding on it? I have a suspicion that there won't be.

 

[crabman]

Well I honestly did not believe it and that is clearly wrong in light of Googles announcement. I still think some of the story remains untold but I suppose we will never know. I notice they did leave the door open to possible offering another device and I surely hope they do, I see no reason why they cannot offer and unbranded version of a phone they are also selling via carrier. Its being done and has been done by others.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

I think moving the phone out to a retail store is a great move by google. It means that this phone isn't dead after all and google is going to continue to support it. The more people who jump on board with this phone the better off we all are.

 

[hipocrazy]

I would not be surprised if Google stopped direct sales. I believe this was a wakeup call to the carriers saying 'look what we could do'. Hence no advertising. They did not need the sales so much as the attention it would,and did, bring. This attention provided the carriers with curiosity and incentive towards the android OS, the ultimate prize for Google. Google wants its OS on every mobile device possible to employ (deploy?) advertising so it continue it's financial reaping. It seems to have worked what with their last quarter earnings over Apple. All the badmouthing about the nexus was bad news generating good news for Google because the Internet was abuzz.

On a very small scale people (us) bought the phone but I don't think for one second it was meant for mass approval. Hence no advertising.

And it does not matter to me. I love my phone and I love the OS. Best experience I've ever had with a mobile device.

Just my two cents.

 

[Air Force One]

I think moving the phone out to a retail store is a great move by google. It means that this phone isn't dead after all and google is going to continue to support it. The more people who jump on board with this phone the better off we all are.

Google was already supporting the N1 with 2.1-update, and the upcoming 2.2...

Any way you slice it this is bad news. Even if Google makes a Nexus 2 it will be sold via carriers, not Google. That means bloatware and waiting for updates like everyone else.

I am fearful the "Google experience" will end with the N1.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Google was already supporting the N1 with 2.1-update, and the upcoming 2.2...

Any way you slice it this is bad news. Even if Google makes a Nexus 2 it will be sold via carriers, not Google. That means bloatware and waiting for updates like everyone else.

I am fearful the "Google experience" will end with the N1.

The iPhone didn't have any bloatware nor did it ever wait for updates.