I think the Nexus phones are just developer phones: They're as performant as the other mid-range offerings and get the updates early. Being as performant helps

I think the Nexus phones are just developer phones: They're as performant as the other mid-range offerings and get the updates early. Being as performant helps Android ecosystem by making the developers to develop apps that work well also in other models than just in the high-end models. Getting the updates earlier helps developers to prepare their software for the new Android version so that when Samsung and other big players release the new version to their phones, the software is already updated. It's like using beta iOS. So I don't think that Google's trying to make money, at least directly, with Nexus phones/tablets and instead they're just to help developers and Android ecosystem.