Google has revamped the sales strategy for its NexusOne phone, striking deals to sell it in partnership with three North American operators.
Google announced this week it would sell version of the phone optimized for AT&T and Canadian carrier Rogers Wireless, while Sprint Wireless said Wednesday it would sell a version of the phone.
The announcements come in the wake of sluggish sales figures for the Android-based device - Google’s first foray into the handset market.
In launching the phone in January Google decided to sell the device directly through its website rather than the established operator sales channels.
With the deals just announced, it will continue to sell only, but is now also offering phones and price packages agreed with operators.
Analytics firm Flurry said Google sold 135,000 NexusOnes in the 74 days since it launched, well short of the 1 million phones Apple sold over the same period when the first phone went on sale in 2007.
Flurry says Motorola’s Android-powered Druid is also outselling the Google handset, with 1.05 million sales in its first 74 days.
Meanwhile, Google must prove it isn’t involved in the oil industry if it wants to trademark the NexusOne name for mobile use.
The firm’s application to trademark the brand has been rejected by the US Patent and Trademark office, after it emerged Integra Telecom has already registered the ‘Nexus’ moniker.
However, Integra’s ownership relates to usage in the oil industry, which could provide Google means to appeal the rejection on the basis it won’t infringe the existing trademark by competing in the oil markets, The Register reports.