On Friday, Google announced that they had just received the last shipment of their much beloved ‘Google Phone” the Nexus One to be sold on their online store. The Nexus One epitomized the Android operating system by offering the most powerful hardware and also by having no region lock to raise its availability. This touchscreen behemoth did receive many favourable reviews and was well received by the tech community, however the consumers did not hop on the bandwagon quite so easily, as sales did suffer when compared to those of the retail options.
The lack of local sales and service for it could be one of the reasons it fell behind in overall sales. This could also be the reason they are no longer offering online sales after this shipment is sold. Though retailers such as Vodafone in Europe, KT in Korea, and possibly others based on local market conditions will still sell the Nexus, certainly not handy for us North Americans. So if you were waiting for a price drop or another reason to grab this upgrade then now is your chance.
Another reason for closing up shop could be because Android phones now are becoming more powerful and varied and more common in local retailers reducing the need for the Nexus One. The Droid X and the Evo 4G are prime examples of this. I do hope that Google plans to release another region free, or unlocked, phone that is more powerful than those available now to really show off the new 2.2 firmware (froyo). Maybe they should consider opening a Google store…offline?
Do you have a Nexus One or have you considered upgrading to it?
