2014 could well be the last year that Google launches Nexus devices. Having launched in 2010 with the Nexus One, the line has since been Google’s way to showcase its Android operating system without the bells and whistles that manufacturers add. If claims made today by Mobile-review’s Eldar Murtazin are true, Google will retire the Nexus brand in favour of a rebranded Google Play edition line in 2015.
Nexus line by Google is over in 2015 😉 Yes – this line will be replaced by Play Edition (current name, it will be rebranded)
— Eldar Murtazin (@eldarmurtazin) January 27, 2014
Offering the same stock Android experience, the Google Play edition lineup has grown quickly since the introduction last year of the HTC One Google Play edition and Samsung Galaxy S4 Galaxy Play edition. It now includes tablets such as the LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play edition and the Sony Z Ultra Google Play edition available phablet. With the launch earlier this month of the Moto G Google Play edition, it now includes an affordable model as well.
The Google Play edition lineup as it stands is not without a number of disadvantages over the Nexus one. Not only is it available only in the U.S. but devices are sold at the same price as their regular versions. Would manufacturers and carriers support the idea that customers can pick up cheaper versions if they go directly to Google? At first glance, that appears unlikely.
If such a move to retire the Nexus line in 2015 is indeed planned, let’s hope that Google merges the best of both programs: The range of devices offered by Google Play edition with the availability and pricing of the Nexus line.
We’ll have to keep an eye on this story to see how it develops. In the meantime, Murtazin suggests that we could still see two or three Nexus devices this year.
Sources : @eldarmurtazin // AndroidSpin