May 15th, 2010  - by Najam

WASHINGTON: Google said Friday it was closing down the online store for its Nexus One smartphone in a strategic shift that signals the failure of its bid to market the device directly to consumers on the Web.The move comes just four months after the Internet search and advertising giant launched the touchscreen Nexus One as a rival to Apple’s iPhone and the Blackberry from Canada’s Research in Motion.”As with every innovation, some parts worked better than others,” Google vice president of engineering Andy Rubin said in a blog post.
“While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the Web store has not,” Rubin said of the open-source mobile phone operating system that Google offers for free to handset makers.”It’s remained a niche channel for early adopters,” Rubin said of the Nexus One store.”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,” he said.
When Google launched the Nexus One, which carries the Google brand but is made by Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC, it gave consumers the option of buying the phone on the Web and then finding a telecom carrier.Two major US carriers, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, however, declined to offer the Nexus One, dealing a setback to Google’s plans.Rubin said Google would make the Nexus One available through existing retail channels.
“Once we have increased the availability of Nexus One devices in stores, we’ll stop selling handsets via the Web store, and will instead use it as an online store window to showcase a variety of Android phones available globally,” he said. Google does not release sales figures for the Nexus One but it reportedly trails far behind the iPhone and other handsets such as Motorola‘s Droid.Android devices on the whole, however, are doing well according to Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.Schmidt told shareholders on Thursday that manufacturers were shipping at least 65,000 Android-powered mobile phones a day.Schmidt said Android is now being used on 34 models of mobile device in 49 countries and “is going to be either the number one or number two player” in the mobile phone market.

Source: News Agencies