Google Nexus One sale disappointing: opinions?

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freitasm

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#58682 17-Mar-2010 08:40

It seems the Google Nexus One sold just about 135,000 units in its first six weeks. Not what people would call a success.

Comments? Ideas on how this happened or how this could be different?

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#308247 17-Mar-2010 12:48

Open it up to the rest of the world and drop the price maybe??

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#308250 17-Mar-2010 12:54

Almost completely due to Google's bizarre decision around distribution... shame really, great device.

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geekiegeek

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#308253 17-Mar-2010 12:58

maybe all the people that want a smartphone have alreay brought an iphone or a pre or another android based device so the market just isnt that big anymore.

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#308254 17-Mar-2010 12:58

NZtechfreak: Almost completely due to Google's bizarre decision around distribution... shame really, great device.

Yup, totally odd tbh.

also the lack of advertising and not giving many online reviewers prototypes before hand was a real turn off.

If they'd wanted to, they could have blitzed the scene with advertising. Maybe they were just too afraid to test the water. Or they have a bigger and better N2 phone coming out with which they'll try harder...

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Linuxluver

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#308260 17-Mar-2010 13:14

This "poor sales" meme is being put about by people seeking to mislead others. The Nexus One launch was not a typical mass market sales push. FAR from it.

It has been a 'soft' launch right from the start. Sales have been by word of mouth and media stories. As far as I know there hasn't been any mass media sales campaign at all, anywhere.

Comparing this product launch to something like the Motorola Droid - with TV ads during the Super Bowl - is not possible. It's comparing oranges to toothpicks.

The story I've heard is that Google is using the Nexus One soft launch to stress test its direct sales / support engine and identify gaps that need filling. It is their first ever tech item for sale direct to the public.

They would also have to be careful of their telco ties. They want to be partners, not competitors. Looks to me like a long game. I suspect Google has been using this as an experiment to test channels and effectiveness of different kinds of advertising....and carefully monitoring the "buzz"...and where it appears and how it flows.

The phones are probably secondary.....for now. It's the strategy and how and where it is effective that may matter to them most...with the "open" phone precedent bedded in....and all the early-adopters paying close, admiring attention.

Another way to look at is that they have, with their first-ever smartphone offering, established mindshare as a major player with a product second to none.

Maybe we're baking cakes...not frying eggs. (Cakes take longer).

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#308576 18-Mar-2010 06:24

The fact that you can't just walk into a store and play with one before purchase must have dissuaded many people from purchasing one.With no advertising campaign the only way Google could sell the phone was to those online geeks who are happy to buy the phone sight unseen (like me I guess since I purchased the day it was released without knowing much of anything about the phone nor having any prior experience of Android) .

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#308605 18-Mar-2010 08:39

lchiu: You're probably right. I didn't buy one because of the convoluted two-step and consequently murky warranty picture. I've played that game before and though I've never had any issues with the purchases, I've grown tired of the "stress" that can arise from unexpected delays, demands for documentation, customs agent issues and other Customs-related matters.....

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#308660 18-Mar-2010 10:52

Linuxluver: lchiu: You're probably right. I didn't buy one because of the convoluted two-step and consequently murky warranty picture. I've played that game before and though I've never had any issues with the purchases, I've grown tired of the "stress" that can arise from unexpected delays, demands for documentation, customs agent issues and other Customs-related matters.....

Well in this instance I was more like a US consumer. I heard about the product, saw the launch and went online and bought it. I was in California at the time so it arrived the next day (alas I had to pay Ca tax). But I headed off to CES in Las Vegas before it arrived so while many people at the show had the phone (of course) and it was on display at several booths, my was languishing at my Ca residence in a Fedex box :-(

Even so it's a leap of faith to spend $579(US) on a device you can't go and try first and especially when you are not familiar with Android (which I wasn't). But I wanted a new phone to replace my P1i, didn't want an iPhone and was leaning toward the N95 before I saw this.

I am happy with the phone - no regrets on the purchase but I can see a less tech savvy becoming quite frustrated with some of its problems which have been well documented.

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#308672 18-Mar-2010 11:14

Have to look deeper than one particular phone,

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#308688 18-Mar-2010 11:40

How about a graph showing launch costs for each phone. Had Google launched with the same expenditure that Apple and Motorola did, their backend support processes (already quite inadequate) would have collapsed under the strain! That would severely damaged an already bruised reputation they got from the soft launch of the N1.

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Kiwipixter

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#308711 18-Mar-2010 12:32

Lesson #1
Telco knows how to sell phones...and airtime.

Lesson #2
Customers like to see and feel the phone before forking out their money and commit to a contract.

n95

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#312049 28-Mar-2010 14:38

Yes I would buy one if they were available in NZ!

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#312377 29-Mar-2010 12:45

Hi Paul, I agree that Google could have sold a lot more N1's if they had simply opened up purchases to the whole world.

Steve, I hear what you're saying but even on a market for market basis it does appear that sales of N1's have fallen far short of what many commentators expected. Whether sales have fallen short of Google's expectations, whether Google is disappointed, well I suppose that has a lot to do with what Google's hopes for the N1 were. I have no idea of what Google's hopes were but if sales to date are in line with what Google was hoping for then Google's PR folk did a poor job of setting the markets expectations. If they were testing their direct sales, doing a soft launch etc, then maybe they should have said as much at launch? Many people had high expectations for the N1 and sales to date have not borne these expectations out creating an unfortunate perception!

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#313917 1-Apr-2010 15:05

It's expensive, it doesn't come with a nice fat handset subsidy from a carrier, it isn't available in shops to ogle and play with, it's not widely marketed in the mainstream media and it's a "new" OS that people (ordinary folk) are still coming to terms with. Google also want to sell their OS - if they outsell all of their competitors in the handset arena, they cut their own throats

I think it's sold quite well considering all of that.

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#313928 1-Apr-2010 15:23

Agreed, but lets revisit this when it becomes available on all carriers in the US - which is possibly only a matter of months away and will make it the only model with a hardware/software combo which is homogenous in that sense.

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