Android: Google’s Nexus One strategy crystallises

Some light should be shed on the mystery surrounding Google’s Nexus One at a press conference on the 5th of January. Initial information suggests that the release will be based on the standard economic model.

The saga surrounding the Google Nexus One, anticipated to be "the" Google Phone running Android, has certainly taken on a whole new life during the holiday period. Presented to a few Google employees as a present, then as the GPhone on which the group’s new strategy will be built with the help of HTC, the handset has certainly had a lot of rumours swirling around it.

By announcing an Android event for the 5th of January, two days before the CES 2010 in Las Vegas starts, the mystery has had some light shed on it. While Google hasn’t explicitly stated that the announcement will be about the Smartphone, details have emerged indicating that this will be the order of the day, although nothing has been officially confirmed.


The anticipated sales conditions
It appears that Nexus One will be the handsets name, with a price estimated at $530 bare, representing a pricing structure not dissimilar to other current Android Smartphone’s. Unlike what some market watchers may think, it doesn’t appear to have a specific economic model which would allow the devices price to be reduced.

It should though be possible to acquire a Google Nexus One handset for $180 coupled with a phone subscription with T-Mobile USA paying $80 a month, but if the user wants to keep their current contract terms then the device will have to be purchased naked (therefore forfeiting the subsidy).

One condition of sale pointed out by Gizmodo: if the user purchases the phone with a T-Mobile contract, but decides to hand it back within 120 days of its purchase, they will have to reimburse the subsidy equal to $350, or send the handset back to Google.