The fallout from Google’s mobile store shutdown

When I purchased my Nexus One, the only phone purported to give customers the true “Google Experience,” I knew by that point that it was not selling well or at least not selling up to expectations. I was unsurprised but undeterred. Paying for unlocked phones was an old habit of mine, as I had spent at least $600 per year for the last five years on new, unlocked (usually Sony Ericsson) phones, which upon reflection, seems absolutely ludicrous. So, the Nexus One’s $529 price tag wasn’t as daunting for me as much as it was expected. I knew that paying that much for a new cell phone was not something normal (read “sane”) people regularly chose to do, which made Google’s unorthodox plan to sell its first and only super phone directly to customers seem to be somewhat of a bad business decision. So, when Google confirmed what everyone already knew – that the direct sale of a high-end phone with barely any carrier subsidy (who has T-Mobile, anyway?) was not exactly setting the mobile world afire – it was met with a collective “no shit.” But when the door finally slammed shut this week, it still somehow seemed to catch people off guard. I had intended to buy at least a spare battery if not also the car dock from the accessories site but dragged my feet. And once Google closed its mobile phone store with an unceremonious apology, all accessories were locked up as well. As I trolled around to see who else might sell these OEM accessories, I quickly realized that they were not exactly readily available. Sure, you can pay double on eBay as frantic Nexus fans try to snatch up what they can. But other than that, you’re shit out of luck. I thought I had struck gold last night when Expansys had the car dock listed. I swallowed my pride and paid too much for it (but not eBay levels) only to be met with an email this morning from the order fulfillment department, essentially saying “whoops, no more of those in stock.” I guess for those of us who were too slow to pony up for OEM accessories, welcome to after-market city.