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Google's Nexus One Offers iPhone New Competition

Posted by Sara Zucker on January 4, 2010 02:48 PM

While brand enthusiasts speculate about the Nexus One and how it will compete against Apple's iPhone, practical retailers are wondering how Google's new smartphone will be marketed.

Set to arrive in stores this month, the phone will be subsidized by a wireless carrier -- supposedly T-Mobile -- though a service provider has not been officially revealed yet. A full-priced model without service can be purchased through google.com/phone with a Google checkout account.

Google, the world's largest search engine and most popular website, has an inherent marketing edge. Google used the popularity of its homepage to promote T-Mobile's G1 and Verizon's Droid, and now it must leverage every asset to compete in the cutthroat hardware market, taking on advertisers such as Verizon and AT&T.

Despite its global brand recognition and unquestioned dominance on the Internet, Google still lacks real-world distribution resources.

"The big unknown is what Google would do to get retail support," said Forrester analyst Charles Golvin. "They really need relationships with someone like Best Buy who can get the phone into the hands of consumers."

And that is exactly what Google is doing. To help sell the Nexus One, Google has partnered with Best Buy. The retailer will demo and install Google applications on the branded smartphones. Google is also hoping that online retailers such as Amazon and eBay will jump at the chance to sell a phone that will rival the iPhone.

In addition to its venture into the smartphone category, Google's overall goal is to continue marketing its Android platform by pushing handset makers to integrate its software. Though Nokia is re-vamping its Symbian operating system in an effort to make it open-sourced, Android has proven itself to be more customizable and flexible in regard to consumer preferences.

But can Google's incredible brand power make its Nexus One more popular than Apple's iPhone?

Comments

Internet Marketing and Advertising United States says:

It will be interesting to see what happens when Google goes into hardware. That is not what they have been known for or (as far as I know) done in the past. Microsoft did well when it stuck to the basic core of software and did not compete against its own users of it operating system (ie: IBM, Dell, etc.) but has since gotten into all sorts of hardware and thus diluted the brand and the profits of the company. I personally think this is a big mistake for Google because it is making the same mistake.

Greed knows no bounds and therefore, I predict this to be the beginning of the end for their dominance in the industry. Smart business people know when to limit what they get themselves into and not try to take over the world.

It has never worked and it won't work this time.

January 4, 2010 11:45 PM # Reply

anti keylogger United States says:

Excellent site, keep up the good work. I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks,
A definite great read…

January 9, 2010 04:59 PM # Reply

Hirephpdevelopers United States says:

Google develop smart phone Nexus One.Nexus One google phone compete apple iphone.Nexus One use google with androids.Nice information.

January 10, 2010 05:20 AM # Reply

Miami SEO United States says:

Google really develop there service into its maximum level of service.. I think yahoo will be a hard time beat this huge search engine..

January 10, 2010 11:42 PM # Reply

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