05 July 2010 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter

Google nixes 'Nexus Two' plans

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has revealed that the company will not be going ahead with the rumoured successor to the Nexus One. In a move similar to Apple's static iPhone product, Schmidt said Google's superphone has proven such a success that no tweaking of the format would be necessary.

Rumours of a forthcoming 'Nexus Two' have abounded since the Google phone's launch in January, with many believing it to be aimed at enterprise customers to rival the Blackberry. However, Schmidt recently told Nexus fans that they shouldn't expect a sequel any time soon.

"The idea a year and a half ago was to do the Nexus One to try to move the phone platform hardware business forward. It clearly did," the Google boss told the Telegraph.

"It was so successful, we didn't have to do a second one. We would view that as positive but people criticised us heavily for that.

"I called up the board and said: 'Ok, it worked. Congratulations - we're stopping'. We like that flexibility, we think that flexibility is characteristic of nimbleness at our scale."

According to Android project leader Andy Rubin, Google was hoping for at least 150,000 Nexus One sales - and expectations have been beaten with at least 500,000 being sold. Rubin admitted that the Mountain View giant's plans to "fundamentally change the way phones are sold" by restricting sales to an online store did not prove quite as groundbreaking as hoped, however.

"From a technology perspective, I think the Nexus One was the showcase superphone at the time, and that set the bar," Rubin explained.

"To be revolutionary in the way people buy phones? That didn't happen."