News

Google launches e-commerce site

April 26, 2012

Consumers can now buy Google's Galaxy Nexus smartphone, manufactured by Samsung, from the company's new online store, Google Play store, previously called the Android Market. The phone costs $399 and works with multiple wireless carriers, according to the NY Times.

The Times article says that Sprint Nextel and Verizon will subsidize half the cost of the phone for consumers who commit to a two-year contract. But that's contradictory to what Google says on its technical specifications page for the phone:

The unlocked Galaxy Nexus requires GSM compatible service provider for voice calling. In the United States this includes AT&T and T-Mobile. Phones purchased from devices on Google Play are not compatible with Verizon or Sprint.

Google tried a direct-to-consumer strategy in January 2010 with the Nexus One smartphone but abandoned the effort less than six months later because of poor sales.

Google's new online store may eventually feature its tablet and a home entertainment device. Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, told an Italian newspaper last December that Google planned to release a tablet by June of this year. He told The Wall Street Journal that the company would sell it via its online store.

Read more about online retailing.