Google: Future Nexus One Phone Headed For Enterprise
The statements, which Rubin made to The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg during a Journal-hosted All Things Digital event on Friday, suggest Google wants to broaden the appeal of Nexus One beyond the consumer smartphone market, using the model Google is trying out for Nexus One now.
"What we've learned is that there are more efficient ways of connecting consumers with the phones they'd like to purchase...easier ways," said Rubin, according to the All Things D blog and other sources that reported on the event. "No one's breathing down your neck. No one's trying to up sell you."
What Google isn't addressing, however, is that it'll have a whole new set of challenges on its hands as it attempts to not only approach enterprise customers -- which in North America overwhelmingly favor Research In Motion's BlackBerry -- but also do so without the use of enterprise-focused reseller channels. Unless its distribution strategy changes, Google might find that road rocky and even untenable, especially since early reviews of its Web retail outlet -- the store at www.google.com/phone and currently the only place to acquire a Nexus One -- have been less-than-stellar.
When pressed by ChannelWeb.com about its potential reseller and retailer plans for Nexus One, Google was cagey, telling ChannelWeb it had no "future reseller plans to share." Nexus One and Google's existing VAR channel program -- which focuses on the premium suite of Google Apps -- appear to be mutually exclusive.
Will that change if Google is serious about Nexus One's potential for enterprise appeal? It's worth considering, and is already under discussion in the ChannelWeb Connect community, where much of the feedback so far has been about Google's blowing a big opportunity to redefine the mobile sales channel.
Other observers contest that Google alone simply doesn't offer the type of customer service needed to support a Google-only retail operation for Nexus One. Google, for example, offers only an e-mail address for potential customer support -- not even a phone number -- which has already earned the ire of several Nexus One customers ripping Google for responding more effectively to customer complaints.
"The lack of customer support may break their business model, and limit their market growth, if they can not relate or support their customers," wrote commenter "bran" in response to ChannelWeb's Google interview Friday. "All of their cell phone competitors offer customer support. Why should they be different?"