Nexus 4 chronicles continue for Italy
We’ve been giving readers plenty of information about the Google Nexus 4 smartphone made by LG. This is in huge demand but supplies are very scarce and only yesterday we detailed how difficult it was to get hold of it. However although we discussed short supplies in the US and the UK it seems the chronicles continue. Some potential customers will find it even more difficult to get the Nexus 4 as we have discovered that LG will not be distributing the phone in Italy.
This is surprising stuff and we imagine that there will be many Italian readers who will be annoyed or upset about this news. However it is apparent that LG will not be making the Nexus 4 available in Italy as we visited the LG Italia Facebook page and saw the following message, shown in the photo below. When translated the message reads:
“Italy LG – Life’s Good Hello Christian, LG Electronics Italy will not distribute your smartphone Nexus 4 on the Italian market. LG and Google branded smartphone is still available on Google Play Store in countries where the service is active.”
It makes us feel rather guilty that we’ve been highlighting the difficulties getting the Nexus 4 in both the US and the UK but at least potential owners in either country can order through the Google Play Store, something not available to all Europeans. Where this is not available then people will only be able to find the phone through LG or retailers but we have already seen in other countries that getting the phone this way is a lot more expensive.
We think in the case of Italy, many will be pretty shocked to find that LG will not distribute the Nexus 4. Although it might be possible to order from a neighboring country’s Google Play Store we’re not sure if this is a viable method. Alternatively buyers in Italy who really want the Nexus 4 will have to import one at what is likely to be a prohibitive price.
All things considered this is a sorry tale indeed and we can’t help but feel sympathy for those in Italy who really want the Nexus 4 but are finding all avenues blocked. Are you in Italy and if so are you dismayed that you won’t be able to get the Nexus 4 there through official channels? What do you think of Google and LG making it so difficult for you to get your hands on the Nexus 4? Send your comments to let us know.
Comments
3 thoughts on “Nexus 4 chronicles continue for Italy”
I live in italy and i bought Nexus 4 by proxy, helped by a friend who lives in the US.
Of course the situation is really upsetting, and you have to consider that we italians represent a huge portion of mobile market.
Both Google and LG have their own faults. LG handled this situation really badly, without giving attention to their customers or communicating or explaining anything on their social chanels. They simply raised the price to 500+ euro, take all the possible insults and then communicating after 2 weeks (with just a comment!) that they won’t sell the device anymore. No official announcement. But it was the most obvious action to take, when all your customers is laughing at you yelling “shelf! shelf!”. LG lost his credibility.
Another important guilt is from Google, which have not made available the device purchasing in our country, and I think that this is the start point of the discussion.
Is the problem regarding the LG supply chain in Italy? or it is rather a market experiment?
The choice of Google of pricing such a device at that price (potentially harmful for LG and its competitors) only in the online google channel is per se an experiment, and the deeper arguments for this choice from google are not fully clear to me today.
But, of course, since I live in Italy and I am in practice prohibited to get this device avoiding weird workarounds, I am clearly pissed off for this choice. If we consider that a consistent segment of Nexcus 4 consumers will be developers, the message here from LG and Google is quite clear: “we do want to let excluded italian developers”. Frankly, that’s not acceptable.
Hence, I really argue that in the next future some events will occur for Android in losing making power (is Win phone the Android killer?, don’t know)
Many comments attack against LG and forget that is Google itself causing this mess: They still don’t have an online shop in Italy (they have one in France, Germany, Spain, uk…) while in 2003 i bought my first mac (a mini) online, and i paid exactly the right price.
Today, 8 years after, Goolge isn’t able to do that same thing. That means only one thing: Google can’t handle it!
For all the deluded androist: Nexus 4 is probably the first attempt to attack iPhone directly and it has gone wrong… save money and get an iPhone!