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Could the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 have killed Google’s brand?

Doubt has been cast on the future of Google’s Nexus brand, after figures revealed that recent devices bombed.

Back in 2013, Google’s Nexus 5 smartphone and Nexus 7 tablet won us over with a killer combination of sexy hardware and impressive pricing.

However, Google’s strategy seemed to suddenly change last year. The Nexus 6 phone and Nexus 9 tablet both emerged with premium price tags, almost as steep as Apple’s mobile devices, making them a tough recommendation.

During the company’s recent quarterly earnings call, Google’s Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Pichette, noted that the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 hadn’t done as well as previous Nexus-branded devices, leading to a 3 per cent fall in revenues.

It doesn’t take a mastermind to see that an almost 100 per cent rise in price is almost certainly going to impact the attractiveness compared with the Apples and Samsungs of the world.

The other issue is that if you’re going to slap much higher price-tag on your hardware, you’d better be damn sure that it’s as good as competitors’ products. And that sadly wasn’t the case with the Nexus 6, which stumbled out with a bulky phablet design for no good reason and paled beside oversized heroes like the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

Google’s decision to limit its Project Fi network to the Nexus 6 for the foreseeable future could be seen as a last ditch attempt to drum up some interest in the ill-fated phablet. However, even with that carrot dangling in front of consumers, they’re unlikely to spunk up cash for Google’s device when stronger offerings from the likes of Samsung and LG are at the same price point – and the OnePlus One is available for almost a third of the cost.

Google is reportedly already working on its next Nexus phone, and could even be branching out into the affordable phone market in 2015 to take on the likes of Motorola’s Moto G. However, with the likes of LG and Samsung producing excellent must-have Android handsets, we wouldn’t be surprised if Google took a back seat on the hardware side – and another round of poor sales could kill the Nexus brand for good.

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