The success of the Google Nexus One has been up for debate since the phone first launched in January. Google adopted a non-traditional way of selling the phone, opting to solely sell it online at Google.com/phone and not making it available in any brick and mortar store, even as a dummy device for consumers to try. And so stories arose from analysts who said the Nexus One wasn't selling as many units as anticipated. While we still have no official numbers, Google did give the following statement during this afternoon's Q1 earnings call:
"It is a profitable business for us. ... We are driving the business to be a profitable business from the get-go."
Added VP of engineering Jeff Huber during the Q&A session:
"We're not disclosing the specific number ... We are very happy with the device uptake and the kind of impact that it's had across the industry."
Huber refused to answer if Google had any plans to change its sales model for the Nexus One.
Take all that however you want. And we may never know just how profitable the Nexus One is, or what Google's own expectations were.
