Is the Nexus One a bust?
I'd have to say "yes".
I don't know if it was marketing, the price or the product but Google's initial foray into selling mobile phones saw a disappointing first week. The phone, called the Nexus One, only sold 20,000 units. Unlike other offerings, there has been no T.V. marketing for the deivce. Instead, it has been word of mouth and web ads used as the main vehicles for driving sales and, simply, this strategy does not seem to be working. In contrast, the most recent Android offering by Verizon, the Droid, sold 250,000 units its first week.
Additionally, word of mouth is actually working contrary to the success of the Nexus One. You have a lot of people, like myself, who found out the hard way that you can't get one of these devices if you have a family plan. If you want the phone at a "discounted" price of $179 through T-Mobile, you need an individual plan. So, I would have to get another plan (for at least $80/month) to have the phone. Or, they would be happy to sell me an unlocked phone for $529 dollars. Also, here's a real kicker. If you do have an individual plan through T-Mobile and want to cancel your service within 120 days, you'll not only get hit with T-Mobiles early cancellation fee (likely around $200), you'll also get another $350 charge from Google itself to recoup the cost of the phone.
Now, why would you even consider cancelling? Well, customer service & support might be an issue. Apparently, there are software issues being reported by a lot of folks. But, you see, even though Google has partnered with T-Mobile, T-Mobile cannot provide support if you have issues with your Nexus One. Instead, you have to contact Google directly and there is no phone number for support. Instead, you support is done through email. Some customers say it is taking days for them to get a response.
Now, I have own a G1 for about a year now and was looking at possibly getting a Nexus One but, now, I am not so sure. In my case, I would have to go through Google, versus my carrier, to actually purchase the phone, at full price no less. Then, I would have to pray that I have no issues because, I couldn't call T-Mobile's toll-free support but, instead email Google and hope for a timely response and, in the meantime, kick myself because I chose poorly? No thanks.
It looks like Google dropped the ball on this one. We'll see how (or if) they recover from this fiasco in regards to their phone business.
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