The Google Nexus 4 [product information] will continue to prove elusive for many as 2012 wraps up. First, it sold out in mere minutes when it went on sale back on November 13th. Hope returned when Google announced that it would resume sales in the U.S. a couple of days ago. While the Google Play site once again suffered from overwhelming demand, the Nexus 4 has remained on sale since then. So far, so good.
Now the bad news. Shipping times have slipped quite a bit. The 16GB version now shows that a shipping ETA of 4 to 5 weeks. It’s even worse for the 8GB model: 8 to 9 weeks. If you order the 16GB model, you might get it by year’s end but early 2013 appears more likely.
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On a more positive note, Google appears to be learning from the rocky Nexus 4 launch. Until this week, Google had simply put up a ‘Sold out’ sign and did not take any orders. Interested buyers would come back to the site at least once a day to see if they could place their order. Now, they can get their order in and wait (im)patiently for it to show up at their door.
Unfortunately, the Canadian situation is a little different. The Nexus 4 has been unavailable since November 13th. Some rumours suggest we could see sales resume around December 7th. For now, we remain unable to place an order even if we want to wait for it to show in 2013.
Read more: Google Play