Many great Android fans have voiced their opinion about my article that spoke pretty lowly of Samsung after my Note 7 debacle when I declared #NeverSamsung. Honestly, the entire process burned me out for pretty much anything Samsung. But have no fear Android lovers, for I have not sworn off the most popular mobile operating system on the planet. In fact, now that Google is making their own Pixel phones I would LOVE to try one out!
Google Pixel is everything a phone should be and with minor improvements over the next few revisions it could be the perfect phone. The Pixel is fast, lightweight, has an amazing screen, the camera is almost perfect, and it doesn’t explode. All good things right? So, why won’t I be getting one right away? Because Google decided to exclusively partner with Verizon for carrier sales. And that is a major mistake in my opinion. While I’m on this topic I’ll say that Apple made this mistake by exclusively supporting a carrier and then came to their senses and opened up sales to every carrier in nearly every country.
Here’s what I think will happen next, Google will realize that they are only tapping a certain percentage of the market with the Verizon deal and they will squash it early to allow other carriers to sell the Pixel with plans. The change will be a result of either overstocking or lack of Google Store sales. Overstocking is possible because they have committed to manufacturing facilities to produce a certain number of devices and Verizon probably won’t be able to sell all the phones they forecasted.
Lack of sales at the Google Store is a more likely conclusion because most people that are tied into a carrier already don’t want to give up their device promotions with their carrier in order to pay a separate monthly fee to Google. For instance, with T-Mobile I could sell my device and pay off the balance and then get the Pixel on the special pricing but that doesn’t allow me to use my Jump on Demand with T-Mobile should I not like the Pixel. If I stop the promotion the promotion ends and I’ve been told by support that they will not allow me to get a new Jump on Demand phone later because they no longer offer the Jump on Demand program. (Another source tells me this is only in stores and if you call T-Mobile they will give you Jump on Demand. But who knows until I actually try it and fail, right?)
To quickly come to a point, the Google Pixel should be my next phone but with Google’s choice to sell only through Verizon many potential customers are being left out in the cold. And while that seems better than having an exploding phone it really is just about the same. Except no one gets physically hurt in this case.
What do you think? Did Google make a mistake by choosing to strike an exclusive deal with Verizon? Let me know in the comments below, or on Google+, Facebook, or Twitter.
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