Cutting its losses after three months of tepid sales of the Nexus One, Google announced Friday that it will begin shipping its signature Android-based smartphone to retail stores and phase out online sales. Google announced the change with a “what-were-we-thinking?” blog post, taking its knocks for betting that customers would snatch up the devices sight unseen.
“We launched Nexus One in January with two goals in mind: To introduce a beacon of innovation among Android handsets, and to make it quick and easy for people to buy an Android phone,” wrote the company’s vice president for engineering, Andy Rubin, on Google’s official blog. “But, as with every innovation, some parts worked better than others. While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the web store has not.”
He said the Google web store was “a niche channel for early adopters, but it’s clear that many customers like a hands-on experience before buying a phone, and they also want a wide range of service plans to chose from.”
While current sales figures have not been released, Google sold only 135,000 Nexus Ones in the first 74 days, the time it took Apple to sell one million iPhones and Verizon to sell one million Motorola Droids, according to an estimate by Flurry.
“Trying to buy online, especially when you haven’t experienced [the product] is like trying to buy a car online,” said Ramon Llamas, a senior communications analyst for IDC Research.
“You know what it feels like to drive, but not what to expect when you go from a sedan to an SUV. You really want to get behind the wheel and drive. And the same thing with a smartphone. If you put down a couple of hundred dollars on a device, you want to test it out.”
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