Nexus 4 & 10 Are Huge Hits: A New Era Of Android Is Here

The furious blogging on this topic has already begun, along with a slew of speculations on why both the Nexus 4 (8GB & 16GB versions) and the Nexus 10 (32GB version) have sold out in the UK and Australia within minutes of launch. (Update: Spain and France have also sold out of all Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 devices.) (Update 2: And the U.S. Nexus 4 lasted exactly 10 minutes!) (Update 3: According to Google+ posts and the Play Store listing, the Nexus 4 orders are once again being processed! How long will this one last?) (Update 4: Not long :( It's out again.) (Update 5: And the Nexus 7 32GB + 3G is out, too.) The two main assumptions are: (1) The devices are so popular that huge quantities have been ordered immediately after launch, and (2) Google was so ill prepared for the launch or seriously underestimated demand, that they failed to properly stock their reserves. I am here to debunk the latter.

True, Google does not expect these devices to sell like the iPhone or iPad, so they did not stock tens of millions of units across the world. At the same time, Google has already experiences the unexpected success of the Nexus 7 (which also sold out shortly after launch). Therefore, the company clearly knows that there is demand for top-of-the-line hardware sold at cheap-skate prices.

The fact that the 4 and the 10 sold out means that these devices are even more popular than the well-received Nexus 7. And that means a new era of Google-approved pure Android gadgets. Manufacturers will more than ever fight to have the next Nexus device, and Google will be more than happy to let multiple players build multiple Nexuses (Nexii?). Already, we’ve got LG making the Nexus phone, Asus making one Nexus tablet, and Samsung making yet another Nexus tablet. No reason why this list can’t grow. No reason why there can’t be five Nexus phones and 10 Nexus tablets made by fifteen different manufacturers, all being sold at the same time. Google would love this, because it means more pure-Android devices, which would be updated immediately, in more people’s hands. This is what will restore the Android name which has been sullied by carrier control and manufacturer delays.