Google pulls plug on Nexus One • Hacker News Board

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#11

Post by adbge » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:33 PM UTC

macrael wrote: post #4

Is there any evidence that there will be a Nexus Two? Is it safe to infer that part of the reason for the end of the Nexus strategy is due to carriers and hardware makers objecting to there being a "google blessed" phone?

According to Eric Schmidt (Google's CEO), there will be no Nexus Two.

“The idea a year and a half ago was to do the Nexus One to try to move the phone platform hardware business forward. It clearly did. It was so successful, we didn't have to do a second one. We would view that as positive but people criticised us heavily for that. I called up the board and said: 'Ok, it worked. Congratulations - we're stopping'."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/7864223/Googles...

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#12

Post by ashishbharthi » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:33 PM UTC

Any numbers on how many sold so far?

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#13

Post by yason » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:36 PM UTC

YooLi wrote: post #2

With the Nexus one going away, is there any other Android phone that doesn't need to be rooted to install vanilla android and updates?

This is exactly why I was waiting for Nexus One, well, to be sold in Finland. I don't want any "value-adding crap" in my phone, much like I don't want any OEM crap in my computer either.

A plain Ubuntu or plain Android installation is what I want. Are there really no other Android phones that come without? Oh crap.

(FYI U.S. citizens: most mobile phones in Finland and Europe are sold separately from the carrier plan, thus making it easy for people to buy directly from Google. If only they had decided to sell...)

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#14

Post by seanalltogether » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:40 PM UTC

I bought the nexus one specifically because it was on par with the iphone but allowed me to throw any sim card in that I wanted for traveling between countries. Are there any other phone on the market similar to this?

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#15

Post by lwhi » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:43 PM UTC

"Google’s plan to cut out the middle-man from the sales plan (that is, the mobile operators) sucks (unless you’re talking about Apple)."

Maybe it's fair to say that the problems involved in selling direct to the consumer are relatively insurmountable, unless your company has expertise in that domain.

I think Google must have underestimated the task.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#16

Post by tptacek » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:49 PM UTC

Tichy wrote: post #9

You can still buy the N1, just not from Google. I think they gave up too soon.

I don't think they "gave up" so much as "saw they were never going to make a lot of money on it" and "were antagonizing the channel for the vast majority of all Android sales". G doesn't want to sell phones; they just want to control the OS that runs on them.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#17

Post by veeti » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:50 PM UTC

YooLi wrote: post #2

With the Nexus one going away, is there any other Android phone that doesn't need to be rooted to install vanilla android and updates?

Well, the original Motorola Droid/Milestone might still be an option.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#18

Post by tjogin » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:53 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #16

Tichy wrote: post #9

You can still buy the N1, just not from Google. I think they gave up too soon.

I don't think they "gave up" so much as "saw they were never going to make a lot of money on it" and "were antagonizing the channel for the vast majority of all Android sales". G doesn't want to sell phones; they just want to control the OS that runs on them.

Do you think that it would have been disappointing to Google if Nexus One had sold like hotcakes?

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#19

Post by pietrofmaggi » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:53 PM UTC

seanalltogether wrote: post #14

I bought the nexus one specifically because it was on par with the iphone but allowed me to throw any sim card in that I wanted for traveling between countries. Are there any other phone on the market similar to this?

An unlocked iPhone.

But it cost more than the N1. Here in Italy Vodafone sell (if you can find it) the N1 without contract for 499€, while the iPhone 3GS is now 539€.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#20

Post by yason » Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 6:54 PM UTC

eli wrote: post #10

I blame Google for letting people build the Nexus One up so much (remember the crazy pre-launch rumors about how it was going to change the world?) It's not that Americans are stupid and the rest of the world is smart. The problem is that you typically pay the same monthly service fee whether you take a subsidized phone or not. To go buy your own phone at full retail price is leaving hundreds of dollars on the table.…

The same price for the service with or without a phone is just a sign that the market doesn't work for some reason.

Before my (coincidentally, American) employer started paying my phone bills, I had a service from one of the local operators here. In my "smart" country the costs were as follows:

- monthly fee: 0,67€

- phone calls: 0,069€ / minute

- texting: 0,069€ / message

Admitting I indeed don't talk on the phone that much and I don't use data services, I rarely racked up more than 5-10 euros a month. I could get 512k-2M data plan for 10-30 euros a month. Still, any plan that comes bundled with a decent phone here is many times more expensive.