A couple of months ago, Google tried a new approach to selling its phones. They created the Nexus One store online, where you could buy the phone from Google directly, rather than from the carrier. However, many consumers would rather go to the carrier to buy the smartphone, so they can demo and try out the phone, and return it if needed without paying postage and handling. The approach was only cumbersome for the customers, and turned out to be a failure for the company.

One reason that caused this plan to fail was the fact that Nexus released the Droid Incredible without Google, which caused severe competition for the Nexus One. The Droid Incredible is very similar to the Nexus One. ”I wanted the Nexus One because my friend has it, but the Verizon store was selling the Droid Incredible and I got that instead.” reports Verizon customer Tim Becket. The convenience of being able to purchase a phone nearby, with a place to go to for support, made it impossible for the Google online phone store to work. Phone consumers are clearly not ready to transition from buying phones from carriers to purchasing directly from Google through an online store, however, it might be an option to try again in the distant future.

Another problem was that Google hoped to make it easy for customers to chose a phone and any major phone service carrier. This failed when Sprint, and the all too important Verizon, refused to support the Nexus One in this deal. Without these major carriers available for Nexus One owners, the online phone store just didn’t have a chance.

Perhaps the greatest problem of all was the fact that Google would have to compete with the phone carriers to sell the smartphone. This only created more obstacles, when the company already had enough trouble keeping up with Apple’s iPhone. It is only for the best that they closed down the online phone store, and are now only using it to allow customers to discover the specifications, while directing them to carriers where the phone is sold.