Technology Wars – Google makes a Strategic Retreat in the Smartphone Front;Closes Nexus One Web Store

Technology has seen the rise of 5-10 big Giants which are consolidating smaller companies and expanding their products/services to fight each other across  multiple segments like smartphones,tablets,SAAS,operating systems etc. Smartphones has been one of the most hotly contested segments with multiple players.Google which made a big bang entry with a multitude of partners through its Android Operating System is shifting its stance.It is backing away  from smartphone hardware which was never its forte.Even Microsoft except for the XBox has never been able to make any headway in technology (read Zune).Only Apple has managed to combine the software and hardware into an unbeatable package in smartphones,music players,laptops and now in tablets.

Google Closing Its Nexus One Web Store  – PCWorld

Google’s groundbreaking model for selling Android phones from a single Web site is about to become history.

Google has just announced it’s pulling the plug on its Nexus One Android Web store. The Nexus One Web store, launched in conjunction with the Nexus One device in January, was designed to give users a one-stop virtual shop to pick up the latest and greatest Android phones. It was meant to mark the start of a new kind of distribution model — one where you base your decisions on devices rather than on carriers.That model will soon be no more.

In a blog posted Friday morning, Google Engineering VP Andy Rubin said the Nexus One Web store simply hasn’t worked as well as the company had hoped.”We launched Nexus One in January with two goals in mind: to introduce a beacon of innovation among Android handsets, and to make it quick and easy for people to buy an Android phone,” Rubin says. “But, as with every innovation, some parts worked better than others. While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the Web store has not.”