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Google’s Nexus One: will Europe care?
The past few hours have seen a flurry of activity around Google’s forthcoming Nexus One phone (see here and here). The latest news, courtesy of Gizmodo, is that leaked documents supposedly place the handset at a price of $529.99 unlocked and $179.99 if you sign up to a T-Mobile contract.
It appears Google will also be dispatching the handset internationally (if you’re prepared to pay the import tax you’re likely to incur). The question is, will anyone outside the USA care?
As MG Siegler at TechCrunch notes, Google selling an unlocked phone directly is important as it awakens Americans to a whole new world of buying your phone and your mobile phone service separately.
Unlocked handsets are pretty common in Europe. Walk down a Spanish highstreet and you’re likely to see more unlocked phones for sale than subsidised ones. In the UK, where you can pick up most phones for free if you sign up for an 18-month or two year contract, unlocked phones aren’t so common but there’s a general awareness that they’re an option (albeit an expensive one).
Meanwhile, the American mobile market is pretty under-developed compared to many other parts of the world. Until the iPhone came along in 2007 smartphones weren’t mainstream devices – most Americans carried rather dull handsets like the Motorola Razr around with them. While unlocked, unsubsidised phones are available if you know where to look most consumers don’t appear to be aware that they’re an option.
Americans may suddenly see the their mobile contracts in a whole new light thanks to Google. They may realise that they don’t have to bend over and take whatever the networks throw at them. We may see the American mobile market mature as a result.
Europeans, on the other hand, are likely to say “Meh” and move on. Sure, the really keen ones might shell out to have Google send a Nexus One over but with unlocked handsets already a firm part of the continent’s mobile market, most Europeans will probably just wonder what all the fuss is about.
Discussion - 26 Comments/Pingbacks RSS feed for comments on this post
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I agree, as European I would not pay so much money for hardware: I pay to call someone or use an other information service. But even that prices can be lower.
To be clear, the phone itself looks great! But these prices are far before the 2.0 decade.
Who is going to pay for hardware anyway?
I live in the UK and I care very very much, can’t wait for this amazing phone!
I live in the Netherlands, and see lots of people pay extreme prices for I-phone contracts or the unlocked versions, so if this price (around 450-500 euro’s?) will make it here, I think it’s going to be a great competition to the expensive Iphone. And I’m very curious if Google will make it. Iphone is brilliant the way it collaborates with Itunes and Mac’s, all the beautiful apps, but way too expensive.
While I’d agree that Europeans might be less shellshocked by the developments than Americans might be, I think you overstate slightly the awareness or the availability of ‘unlocked’ handsets in Europe. While some countries like Italy require handsets to be unlocked by law, many more (including my own, Ireland) are home to mobile operators who seem to swindle users into extortionate long-term contracts by luring them with a cheap handset.
In Ireland, where o2 are the only operator to offer the iPhone (at least until Vodafone Ireland introduce it next month), users are asked to hand over €519 if they want to buy a 16GB iPhone 3Gs on o2’s pay-as-you-go price plans – and even still, your handset is locked so if you want to change networks, you need venture into the world of jailbreaking. A phone that comes unlocked for US$519 – about €365 – might not make an enormous impact in the bill-paying market where phones are heavily subsidised, but for the enormous pre-pay consumer base the introduction of an unlocked (albeit expensive) Google handset might prove to be a real game-changer.
I think you have a really good pont.
And to be honest, I was really waiting for this device but it’s way too much for a Hero on steroids. Expecially since there isn’t a carrier in The Netherlands which will supply it with a plan.
But I am still wondering what they will do with the Euro price. Let’s hope at least that they stay under the €430 import free border.
I’d definitely buy one if it connects well to Linux. And the price point seems reasonable for an unlocked phone.
… as European
Its not just europe… In india you’ll find more unlocked phones than carrier specific… Infact 90% of the market is of unlocked phones.
In Italy mobile phones are almost all unlocked
Carriers have tech enthusiasts in a choke hold for years now. A nice smartphone or iPhone without a contract will cost your over €400, and that must be an insane percentage above the manufacturing cost.
I call for less than €5 a month using prepaid because I don’t travel a lot, and both home and at work I have ‘free’ WiFi and ADSL for my internet, email, and voip, or I use a landline.
Basically that forces me to never have a fancy phone, or buy one second hand for an abnormal price that could also get me a brand new notebook.
I think if anyone would sell a customizable smartphone without a contract for under €200 they would destroy the current market.
(Yes. I am pissed off that my sensibility keeps me from buying a cool phone.)
There’s a certain irony here: the worldwide market leader Nokia used to try to get a foothold in US with unlocked devices. Results? None.
If Google succeeds in this now, it will be more because of hype on it’s brand than anything else.
Price in Europe: 465€. Simply too much.
http://www.noticias2d.com/2010/01/02/nexus-one-llegara-a-europa-a-un-precio-de-465-euros/
You can have a laptop mini/tablet for that price…
Simply put, in a market as the Italian is, phones are not ALL unlocked, there are carriers (3G Italy) that have been selling locked phones forever. Anyway yes, it was strange to me, coming to the US, to have to buy a phone with a sim card. I have the same italian SIM since 1998 and I always just switched handsets. So, the “unlocked” factor would definitely not work in Europe. Also the price of around 450-500 euros is the standard for such a phone (Xperia, the HTC HD, touch PRO, palm PRE and iphone all are in that price range, if you want them without a contract). So, the same people who would buy a sony Xperia X1 or HTC HD would be likely to buy the Nexus One, if it appeals to them more than the competitors. And from my point of view the only two things that would make my buy the nexus one hands down, even if around 500$, are the battery life and the capability to handle effectively the android OS and its Apps. I’m so frustrated at the lagginess and short battery life of my G1, although I rooted it and it lets me do wonders, when it is in good mood… But when it lags it is just a bitch. So, sheer speed and calculating power, sound battery life (plus the 3.5mm audio jack plug) and rooting possibility, and that would be my nirvana.
Well… in Romania there are both. Most phones can be bought locked and unlocked although people usually buy the more expensive phones locked with a plan from the carrier and unlock them IF they need it (for less than 10 euros usually). And although people can (and some do) get all applications cracked, most of them usually buy them. The main advantage of a google phone is that it comes with a lot of tricks and apps at hand that are free (or even better, open source). For instance, paying for a ringtone when you already have the song is something about only 1% of romanian smartphone users would ever consider. As Apple is both loved and hated for what it does versus what it could do, I can see the market turning towards another powerful, “more free to use as you like” phone. As for the price… you cannot put a price on a romanian’s ego
I would be happy if I could buy one now for €600.
But of course it US only and by the time I can have one the Nexus Two will already be available in the states. Grrrrrr 
Isn’t there an issue with getting one of these from the US – and using it in Europe – because it works on the UMTS 2100/1700 (for T-Mobile USA), but NOT UMTS 2100/1900 (used across most of Europe)?
To quote the official specs:
UMTS Band 1/4/8 (2100/AWS/900)
HSDPA 7.2Mbps
HSUPA 2Mbps
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
UMTS 900 is used across most of Europe so it should be fine.
@Martin Bryant
Actually, 2100Mhz UMTS is the norm in Europe. The 900Mhz spectrum is being made available for UMTS in some areas but it’s no where near universally rolled out yet. It should mean better in-building UMTS coverage when it does though!
GSM / EDGE runs on 900Mhz and 1800Mhz in Europe.
So, the phone is totally setup for European standards.
I can tell you from experience and from hearing people talking about the nexus one that people in Europe (or atleast Nottingham in the UK) do care about the Nexus one, and are just a little concerned about the price tag in the UK. It could be a big string in a service providers bow if they can get exclusivity, or make google a LOT of money if they release is network free. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Yes, god damn it, but you know… “Sorry, the Nexus One phone is not available in your country.”
I’m from the Netherlands and I do care about the Nexus One. I just started learning how to develop applications for Android. I can’t wait to get my hands on the Nexus One. But I read some where that its unknown when it will be released in the Netherlands, if at all. Arrggg..
When I heard about the Nexus One coming out, I and, many others, were thrilled, but the price tag is too big. When the iPhone came out, it was a niche and they made the price big because there was no real competition, but now everyone is attempting to make smart phones.