Google Sees Disappointing Nexus 6 Sales

It seems that I wasn’t the only Nexus fan disappointed by Google’s decision to make a phablet—Google CFO Patrick Pichette told shareholders that Nexus 6 sales were lower than expected after its debut late last year.

According to 9to5Google, Pichette said that the Nexus line of devices has fallen this year, which has more to do with the Nexus 6’s poor performance when compared to its predecessors:

“Other revenues grew 23 percent year over year to $1.8 billion, but were down 2 percent quarter over quarter, driven really by year over year growth in the Play Store, offset by decline in Nexus, and the currency fluctuations. Year over year it hasn’t been as strong given the strength of the Nexus 7 last year.”

As you probably remember, the Nexus 6 costs a whopping $650, which is a full $300 more than the Nexus 5. While the Nexus 6 was a hell of a lot more powerful than the Nexus 5, the 5 was also a reliable, affordable, very good phone, that is, at five-inches, just the right size. The Nexus 6 is, by comparison, a monstrosity, a six-inch behemoth that looks at home in the hands of only the world’s largest people. In short, it is too big, and too expensive, and Google knows for sure that this is the case.

What’s so interesting, too, is that the recently revealed Project Fi is set to work only with Nexus 6 phones, at least to start. The plan for the Nexus 6 was to work with Project Fi, but it seems Google expected more people to have been excited by the six-inch superphone. It remains to be seen whether or not the promise of Project Fi actually spurs more people to buy a Nexus 6 so as to take advantage of the wireless service that’s got so many people talking. I know that the Nexus 6 became a whole lot more interesting to me after Project Fi was revealed—but not interesting enough to drop almost $700 on a phone I don’t actually want.

Hopefully Google figures out that the Nexus 6’s high price and huge size aren’t qualities consumers are too keen on.

[Source: 9to5Google]