The Nexus 4 went on sale in Europe and Australia, and it sold out in a matter of minutes, and left customers rather angry. Buyers had a hard time resisting the incredible unsubsidized price of the device, and thus, they came out in droves to grab one. Google, apparently, could not keep up with the demand for the device, and ran out quickly. This, of course, led to the site spitting out all kinds of errors, which led to some frustrated potential buyers.
The store was apparently having all kinds of issues. In some cases, the issues came from the shopping cart, where a user would add the device, and by the time they got to the checkout stage, the device would not be there anymore. By the time many would-be buyers got the website to work, Google’s stock was depleted and the device was no longer available.
In the UK, both the 8GB and 16GB version of the phone are listed as “Notify Me” rather than offering the ability to purchase a phone. All three version of the Nexus 7 are in stock, and the website seems to working to order those. Nexus 10 tablets are still in stock in the 16GB version, but the 32GB version is sold out.
Clearly, selling out is good for Google, but we are not sure just how big of a success it actually is. We know they sold out incredibly fast, so there is clearly some demand for the device, but we do not know how many devices Goole actually made available for the initial launch. Google may have ended up with more angry potential buyers than people who actually ended up with a device in their possession.
[via SlashGear]
The last phrase really describe my feelings. It was a horrible “experience”. And i dont understand the reason why google isn’t offering a possibility to order products. Just “remind me…” what kind of bs is that? Now i am damned to open the google play store several times a day to look for available devices. Probably for the next weeks.
The german google spokesperson twittered that they don’t know when there will be more devices. This is a really bad job from google. They want to push their store and then it ends in a complete desaster… let me order my new phone and tablet. I want to pay a lot of money, but they don’t give me a chance. I have no problem with waiting a few weeks, but please let me drop my order….
(sorry for my english, i hope it is readable)
Hey, Despite all the goof up by Google on their retailing platform, the serious errors, I ended up with 2 orders being processed. If anyone is interested in buying the Nexus 4, Ping me – lifeinsure4u@gmail.com
I am very sure that there are more angry potential buyers (including me) than there are people who actually got the phone. First time in my life I am very disappointed with Google.
Stayed up past midnight, nothing, checked ever hour, nothing. Finally at half 8 ‘Add to Cart’. Tried 30 times, crashing every time Then, sold out. Brilliant, what a waste of my time. Poor show Google It should be one per customer, sick of these greedy assholes buying 4,5,6 or more and sticking them on eBay at double the price. What a let down.
Some nutter already has one up on ebay for £1200, loads of other at £350 and more…
items went on sale at 8:12
I got a 16Gb at 8:30, an 8Gb at 8:46 and another 8Gb at 8:50
8:12 to 8:50 is more than 30 minutes
Most buyers wanted (at least I would presume they wanted) the 16GB version — that was gone well within 30 mins. The 8GB version was around until around 9:00 (well, gone at 9:07 anyway).
were the bumpers available when the phones went on sale? I was just wondering if those were also available today, or are still “coming soon”?
I’m afraid I didn’t notice as I was concentrating on the phone at the time.
yes, they were
I woke up so early in other to buy this phone. Despite all my efforts the site crashed on me at checkout… pissed beyond messure…
Well, Google/LG has anounced that the Nexus 4 wont even sold at all in the Netherlands and Belgium. So, when its sold out today, at least people with a Play Store has another chance next week or so to buy the Nexus 4.
This is what we call ‘the buyer is IRCTCed’. This happens every day for those who buy indian rail tickets via IRCTC. 8/10 users will get various errors and when one goes to checkout page with great difficulty and select ‘go to payment’, they get the message áll tickets are sold out’.
This is exactly what happened for hundreds yesterday who wanted to buy a Nexus 4.
I also have a feeling that Google is following in the footsteps of Apple and Microsoft to create false demand by released only a tiny number of units so that the stock is cleared in a matter of minutes. This creates lot of buzz and many might think that the device is extremely capable that the huge stock got sold out in matter of minutes. Not cool!
“false demand?” 1.7 million people buy Android devices each day. The Nexus 4 is the cream of the crop. What fantasy are you living in??
Anyone buying this phone on ebay for twice would be a fool, your better off buy a Galaxy S3 for that kind of cash