Google drops Nexus One, suggests for HTC Droid Incredible phone
Google has scrapped its plan to sell a Nexus One phone that works on Verizon Wireless’ network, the most widely used in the U.S.
Google is now pointing customers interested in buying a Verizon version of the Nexus One to the newly launched HTC Droid Incredible phone. The Incredible, which has garnered rave reviews, is on par with the Nexus One in terms of processing power and its vivid OLED display, but packs a more powerful camera.
Google has also said that it is no longer working on “further engineering improvements” to the 3G reception on its Nexus. Some people are taking that as a sign that the search company might not be in the handset business for the long haul.
In Silicon Valley, Nexus Ones are remarkably easy to get hold of, thanks to a generous developer program, liberal press review program and other handouts. Google is literally giving them away, which is never a sign of a hot product.
Indeed,Nexus One sales are barely a blip on the market-share charts. Google sold only 135,000 units in its first 74 days, compared to 1 million iPhones and 1.05 million Droids in those phones’ first 74 days.
But that doesn’t mean the Nexus One is a failure: Far from it. In fact, it’s a sort of inspired experiment, a laboratory for Google to get a taste of the mobile-handset business, up close and personal. For instance, who could have realized the extent to which the lack of a telephone support line would make Google-loving customers unhappy?
The Nexus One gives Google direct-sales experience and customer contact that they don’t get as the developer of the Android OS, which is used on many phones from other manufacturers.
It was not immediately clear what prompted Google to reverse course. Google Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires almost two weeks ago that plans to make Nexus One available on Verizon’s network by the spring of 2010 were still on track. A Google representative said there are no current plans to bring the Nexus One to Verizon and declined to comment on why talks fell apart.
“Verizon had never made a comment or statement about the product coming to our network,” says Verizon Wireless spokesman Marquett Smith. “In the beginning, Google made the statement about the product coming to the Verizon Wireless network and we never made comment around it.”
