Nexus One launch: Failure or Next Step in Google's Path to Mobile Dominance?
Asked by
drClaw (
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January 11th, 2010
Last week marked the launch of Nexus One (Nexus One site), Google’s newest touch phone. I am curious what my Fluther-ites think. Was their launch successful or do you feel like they missed the bar on this?
The next bit is my opinion on the matter. Feel free to skip…
Initially I thought the phone was really pretty cool, possibly the best contender to iPhone yet. I was impressed with the fact that they included the option to purchase it unlocked, something that I haven’t seen before (at least not in the States). It wasn’t until I found out that they hid charges from T-Mobile users. This information was not made easily available to T-Mobile users (link) which ultimately caused a lot of disappointment.
What finally put the nail in the coffin of this launch imho, was the fact that they are only selling the phone online and not allowing T-Mobile customers to make in store purchases. This to me is just dumb, I mean no one likes waiting in lines, but it definitely adds an element of excitement and publicity to see a line around the block of salivating geeks waiting to get the latest & greatest phone. The passed up on free publicity which is why the peak of their launch only barely hit iPhones average daily level buzz online (Google Trends).
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I thought the launch was being delayed due to the law suit and all…
I think Apple has a lot of work to do, Google hit the ball out of the park.
@Shield_of_Achilles Nope, the phone is available as of last Mon or Tue.
@J0E I think the phone is really cool, but what good is that if no one wants to buy it? The phone itself A, but getting it to the customer easily/effectively D-
I don’t know, it appears to be the neatest mobile gadget ever, but I couldn’t be paid to tolerate T-Mobiles service for ever a few hours.
@Anon_Jihad one of the coolest things about this phone is that they are selling unlocked versions, so you can use them with any service. The downside of course to this is there is no discount, so you will pay the full $550 to get the phone.
@drClaw Oh snap!!?!? I might need to to stumble on a wad of cash.
@JOE Yes, but obviously you are connected to technology in some way, where they failed is in their marketing. Average Joe T-Mobile customer probably hasn’t heard of the Nexus One, evidence of this can be found in Google Trends (link). The question then is “How does the average consumer buy it if they don’t know about it?”
On top of this they hid from T-Mobile users the true price of the phone. This is Google’s actual pricing sheet (price sheet) which is extremely difficult to find.
Imagine being a T-Mobile customer and going online to buy the Nexus One. You go through the process to purchase the phone and are 1 step from completion only to find that because you have an existing data plan the advertised price is increased by $200! I know that if I was planning on buying a $175 phone only to find that because of some arbitrary reason the price is increased over double what I was expecting that I would be pissed.
This is the first I heard of this product. Have no idea what a touch phone is, but assume it’s a cell phone with a lot of gidgy-gadgets. I hate Google, never use it on purpose. I use CricKet for mobile, only phone actually, and am happy with that.
@JustAnother Well if you prefer that cluttered visually unappealing alternative, who am I to call you wrong?
@Anon_Jihad That’s OK. If we all liked Google, there wouldn’t be any alternatives. Been using altavista for over a decade now, and never have a problem finding what is being searched. Maybe we’ll take a look at Google on the big machine again, for it’s been well over a year before that dot com was typed on this keyboard.
@JustAnother Please take what I am about to say in the spirit it is attended. If I am incorrect then I truly meant no harm, but would you agree that when it comes to Mobile technology or even emerging technology in general that you fall in the category of a non-tech type person?
If so then I feel you prove what I mention above about Google & T-Mobile’s failure to reach the general (not-so-nerdy) public. Also your assessment of what the phone itself is, is correct…
”...assume it’s a cell phone with a lot of gidgy-gadgets…”
@drClaw No other conclusion can be reached. I’ve been comparing altavista.com with Google when searching over the past day. The results are absurd. Some of the results are similar, but where they differ, altavista shows junk results, and Google continues with relevant hits.
It’s official Google failed!
“Under the newly established media practice of treating smartphone launches like blockbuster movie premieres, the debut of the Nexus One would have to be considered a flop. With 20,000 units sold in its first week, according to a new estimate from mobile analytics provider Flurry, Google’s own phone was outsold by the Android-based myTouch by three times, the Droid more than 12 times, and the iPhone 3 GS 80 times in the same period. So much for the latest iPhone killer.” -MediaPost
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=120559
Google knows what they are doing.
@J0E do you work at Google?
There are some problems with the Nexus One, which is why I’m not using one, or intending on purchasing one. However that in no way is an argument against their search engine as being effective, at least not one to be taken seriously.
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