The Nexus One might have been a bridge too far for Google.
There’s perhaps no other project as important as mobile computing at Google, save of course the need to preserve Internet search dominance. But Google’s mobile ambitions took a hit Monday as two key parts of its Nexus One strategy failed to come to pass.
First off, Vodafone announced it will be the sole point of sale for a locked Nexus One phone in the U.K., bypassing the Web store that was heart of the Nexus One initiative. That means in the U.K., Google will roll out the exact same strategy it railed against during its Nexus One launch event: a locked phone tied to an exclusive carrier sold only in a retail store.
And perhaps more damaging to its interests at home in the U.S., Google has backed off plans to sell a version of the Nexus One for Verizon’s network despite the 90 million customers that would have had access to Google’s supposedly game-changing “superphone.” If Google really wanted shoppers to embrace the Nexus One, it would have needed to make a version compatible with the most widely used network in the U.S. operated by a company it viewed as a key partner six months ago.
Google declined to make executives available to discuss the impact of the Verizon and Vodafone announcements. But it’s now safe to call the Nexus One a flop.
No matter how many units it has sold (Google refuses to say but analysts estimate less than 500,000 units), Google’s main goal with the Nexus One was to change the way the smartphone industry operates. Instead, it’s taking a very traditional path in bringing the phone to market.
Google faced a dilemma once it followed through on plans to launch the Nexus One: promote the Web-only store for phones and risk alienating Android partners by undermining their business models or promote the growth of Android and become a more traditional smartphone software company that toes the wireless industry line.
Android is a real success story for Google. Since it was announced in late 2007, Android has turned into a true competitor to the iPhone and given phone companies like Motorola new life with sophisticated modern software that they can tailor to their own needs.
So why would Google have even thought about messing with success? It’s true that the Nexus One, when it launched, was a very nice Android smartphone that raised the bar for that category, but it took HTC, who also designed the Nexus One, just a few months to equal or surpass it with a phone like the Incredible, which is now Verizon’s flagship Android phone.
