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The steep reduction in price of the Nexus 4 earlier this year was definitely an inventory clearance effort in preparation for the Nexus 5. My friend tried to bu

The steep reduction in price of the Nexus 4 earlier this year was definitely an inventory clearance effort in preparation for the Nexus 5. My friend tried to buy one but he said that lead time estimates were huge and suspected that they were out of inventory. All makes sense now with the Nexus 5 launch. In hindsight, I have to suspect that Google and LG's plans all along was to create a phone with high specs at a low price point but restrict the supply as they "learned" to lower costs for their subsequent models. We've suspected that the Nexus 4 was most likely a loss making model for LG, but since they were rapidly losing mindshare, a loss making low'ish volume high end phone was something they were probably willing to stomach to partner with Google to get back in consumers' minds. Maybe they'll be making profit from day 1 on the Nexus 5 this year

kevinxucs 13y ago
Remember, Nexus phones are esstenially targeted at developers, not general consumer. So limiting supply is understandable.
GhotiFish 13y ago
kevnixucs. You ran afoul of a mod on a bad day and you've been hellbanned (ie. all your posts are insta marked dead but you can't see) Turn your aggression dial from 6 down to 2 and make a new account and you'll be fine.
thaumasiotes 13y ago
> In hindsight, I have to suspect that Google and LG's plans all along was to create a phone with high specs at a low price point but restrict the supply as they "learned" to lower costs for their subsequent models. Well, unfortunately the price of a nexus 5 is much higher than the price of a nexus 4. (On release - $300 for an 8GB 4, or $350 for 16GB; $350 for a 16GB 5, or $400 for 32GB. I would happily take an 8GB option; I don't make a habit of storing anything other than pictures on my phone. Or, to get really crazy, they could allow for removable media...)
- Stratoscope 13y ago
  > Well, unfortunately the price of a nexus 5 is much higher than the price of a nexus 4. (On release - $300 for an 8GB 4, or $350 for 16GB; $350 for a 16GB 5, or $400 for 32GB. What? You're saying the 16GB Nexus 4 was $350. The 16GB Nexus 5 is $349 for a vastly improved phone. How is that a "much higher" price? Is the issue just that they don't offer an 8GB model any more? I can understand that. But comparing phone to phone with the same memory, isn't the Nexus 5 a much better deal?
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    They were recently selling the N4 8gb for $199 (and sold out AFAIK) and the 16gb model for $249. I was about to buy one until I got hit with ~$1500 in veterinary bills last month, and now it's too late. I thought it was interesting that Google chose to set a price floor by withdrawing the old model from sale completely, in similar fashion to Apple's removal of the iPad 3/4 from the Apple store and maintenance of a relatively high price to the iPad 2. I haven't seen companies exercise this sort of pricing strategy as much in the past.
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    > But comparing phone to phone with the same memory, isn't the Nexus 5 a much better deal? This is getting repetitive, but why would you do that? There are no lifetime achievement awards for buying the most price-efficient phone, even if it costs you $750,000 ("but think of all the features you get!"). Compare the minimum price of $300 to the minimum price of $350. There's been a substantial increase. The Nexus S was $400 (in some model, likely the cheapest). The 4 was a welcome signal of attention to price. This is going in the wrong direction.
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago
  ...Are those the numbers you meant to post? You've got the 16GB 4 and 5 priced exactly the same.
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    Yes, I know they're priced the same. However, you'll notice that the 8GB 5 is difficult to purchase. Why pay a substantial sum (a 17% price increase!) for a "benefit" you'll never notice? You can get the best price-per-unit-weight on rice by buying tons of the stuff, but very few consumers are willing to do that. We prefer to buy in pounds for various reasons. "Lower quality, lower price" is an incredibly time-honored and effective philosophy -- of buying things and of selling them. And if you want to consider the recent pricing (I tend to agree that the 4s were priced to move, so it's not a great comparison)? The 4 is a clear winner. There is no way I'd voluntarily pay $350 for a new nexus 5 instead of $200 for a new nexus 4.
akulbe 13y ago
I've got two 16GB N4's I'm trying to sell to fund a purchase of some N5 new shiny. $250 apiece. I hope I can still get that much out of them. :) I think the price for the Nexus devices is excellent, since you get pure Android and a factory unlocked device from the start.
deleted 13y ago
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kevinxucs 13y ago

Remember, Nexus phones are esstenially targeted at developers, not general consumer. So limiting supply is understandable.

GhotiFish 13y ago

kevnixucs. You ran afoul of a mod on a bad day and you've been hellbanned (ie. all your posts are insta marked dead but you can't see) Turn your aggression dial from 6 down to 2 and make a new account and you'll be fine.

thaumasiotes 13y ago

> In hindsight, I have to suspect that Google and LG's plans all along was to create a phone with high specs at a low price point but restrict the supply as they "learned" to lower costs for their subsequent models. Well, unfortunately the price of a nexus 5 is much higher than the price of a nexus 4. (On release - $300 for an 8GB 4, or $350 for 16GB; $350 for a 16GB 5, or $400 for 32GB. I would happily take an 8GB option; I don't make a habit of storing anything other than pictures on my phone. Or, to get really crazy, they could allow for removable media...)

Stratoscope 13y ago
> Well, unfortunately the price of a nexus 5 is much higher than the price of a nexus 4. (On release - $300 for an 8GB 4, or $350 for 16GB; $350 for a 16GB 5, or $400 for 32GB. What? You're saying the 16GB Nexus 4 was $350. The 16GB Nexus 5 is $349 for a vastly improved phone. How is that a "much higher" price? Is the issue just that they don't offer an 8GB model any more? I can understand that. But comparing phone to phone with the same memory, isn't the Nexus 5 a much better deal?
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  They were recently selling the N4 8gb for $199 (and sold out AFAIK) and the 16gb model for $249. I was about to buy one until I got hit with ~$1500 in veterinary bills last month, and now it's too late. I thought it was interesting that Google chose to set a price floor by withdrawing the old model from sale completely, in similar fashion to Apple's removal of the iPad 3/4 from the Apple store and maintenance of a relatively high price to the iPad 2. I haven't seen companies exercise this sort of pricing strategy as much in the past.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  > But comparing phone to phone with the same memory, isn't the Nexus 5 a much better deal? This is getting repetitive, but why would you do that? There are no lifetime achievement awards for buying the most price-efficient phone, even if it costs you $750,000 ("but think of all the features you get!"). Compare the minimum price of $300 to the minimum price of $350. There's been a substantial increase. The Nexus S was $400 (in some model, likely the cheapest). The 4 was a welcome signal of attention to price. This is going in the wrong direction.
PhasmaFelis 13y ago
...Are those the numbers you meant to post? You've got the 16GB 4 and 5 priced exactly the same.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  Yes, I know they're priced the same. However, you'll notice that the 8GB 5 is difficult to purchase. Why pay a substantial sum (a 17% price increase!) for a "benefit" you'll never notice? You can get the best price-per-unit-weight on rice by buying tons of the stuff, but very few consumers are willing to do that. We prefer to buy in pounds for various reasons. "Lower quality, lower price" is an incredibly time-honored and effective philosophy -- of buying things and of selling them. And if you want to consider the recent pricing (I tend to agree that the 4s were priced to move, so it's not a great comparison)? The 4 is a clear winner. There is no way I'd voluntarily pay $350 for a new nexus 5 instead of $200 for a new nexus 4.

akulbe 13y ago

I've got two 16GB N4's I'm trying to sell to fund a purchase of some N5 new shiny. $250 apiece. I hope I can still get that much out of them. :) I think the price for the Nexus devices is excellent, since you get pure Android and a factory unlocked device from the start.

deleted 13y ago

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