Google is giving up on web-only retailing for its Nexus One phones and instead promising to get Android into retail stores so customers can touch and play with the devices before buying one.
"While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the web store has not," wrote Andy Rubin, vice-president of engineering and Android czar at Google in a blog post. "It’s remained a niche channel for early adopters."
Google introduced the HTC-designed Nexus One in January as a phone that would initially be available on T-Mobile's network. But instead of being sold through T-Mobile store, Google said it would sell it through a web site and handle customer support itself.
At first, the strategy may have seemed innovative and clever. Consumers today buy almost all major electronics products including cameras, computers, digital media players and big screen TVs online -- the success of the Apple retail store chain notwithstanding.
But the Nexus One online store didn't catch on in the same way. Early customers complained about the poor tech support from Google--the company didn't offer a telephone help line for weeks, instead asking people to send in e-mails. And unless you had someone you knew using a Nexus One, interested customers found they just couldn't find a Nexus One in the real-world to play with.
Sales of the Nexus One were off to a slow start and while they may have picked up a little, it's no blockbuster. About 20,000 Nexus Ones were sold in the first week, compared to 250,000 for the Motorola Droid and 1.6 million for Apple’s iPhone 3G S, estimates Flurry, an analytics company that tracks the usage of developer applications on iPhone and Android platform.
Google's web model for phones has failed to catch on, Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research told Wired.com last month. Nexus One is currently available on T-Mobile and AT&T but both Verizon and Sprint have said they won't offer the device on their network.
“Fundamentally, Google’s contention that mobile phones will increasingly be purchased more like other consumer electronics — online and without subsidy — has so far been proven wrong, or at least premature,” said Golvin,
“Very few U.S. consumers will spend $500 for a phone, and even fewer will do so without at least the opportunity to paw the hardware, even if they eventually buy online,” he said.
Google's latest move seems to acknowledge that.
"As with every innovation, some parts worked better than others," wrote Rubin.
See Also:
- 5 Lessons for Google From Nexus One's Sluggish Start
- Google Nexus One Leaves Customers Sour
- Google Debuts Android-Powered Nexus One 'Superphone'
- HTC Clones Nexus One, Launches 3 New Phones
- Google Nexus One Sales Off to Slow Start
Photo: (pittaya/Flickr)
