? Google's new Nexus S phone to go on sale with 'Gingerbread'
? Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 phone sees disappointing sales
The mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse expects Google Android phones to be its top-selling smartphone platform across Europe this quarter, ending the decade-long reign of Finland's Nokia.
CPW's chief commercial officer, Graham Stapleton, spoke as the company announced it had the exclusive contract to sell the newest Google-branded phone, the Nexus S, which will go on sale this month with the latest Android 2.3 software, codenamed "Gingerbread".
Meanwhile, retailers and network operators report that Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 phones, released in October, have seen disappointing sales due to product shortages, consumer confusion and rivalry between networks over the software firm's co-branding with Orange. That comes despite having a $400m (�250m) marketing campaign set out for it.
Stapleton said Android-based phones were already the second best-selling platform in its 2,000-plus outlets across Europe but that for this quarter he expected it to oust Nokia as the top-selling smartphone platform. Nokia has been the dominant phone platform in Europe for most of the past decade, achieving up to 40% share, but it has struggled to cope with the rapid transition to smartphones triggered by Apple's iPhone in June 2007 and then the arrival of the first Android phone in September 2008.
"Customers tell us that being able to have a choice, being able to personalise their choice of phone is a key difference about Android compared to some of the other platforms out there," said Stapleton. "When we look at Android, it's available across a large range of handsets and at different prices."
Nokia is perceived by the industry to have struggled to catch up in the smartphone sphere, while Apple's tight pricing means operators are limited in the number of tariffs they can offer.
The �550 Nexus S, built for Google by Samsung, marks the search engine company's second foray into own-brand phones. In January it launched the Nexus One, built by HTC, but its attempts to sell it via the web ran into problems with after-sales support. The decision to sell it as a SIM-free phone via CPW indicates that Google hopes that it can offload the after-sales function on to the retailer ? but CPW said it was talking to phone networks about deals. That indicates that despite having its own virtual mobile network, CPW wants to spread the support function to network operators. CPW is taking pre-orders now and hopes to begin delivering the phone later this month: Google suggests it will be available on 20 December, but the retailer was unwilling to commit to a date on Monday.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's relaunch of its mobile offering through the Windows Phone 7 devices has made a slow start. Stapleton said sales "haven't yet met expectations" but that he hopes the platform would rise into contention with others. "It would be healthy for customers if Microsoft were here too," he said.
Networks have reported unimpressive sales, with one calling it "disappointing". One industry source suggested that Microsoft's decision to co-brand its TV adverts with Orange had turned other networks against it and confused customers. "If they're walking past an O2 or a Vodafone story, why would they expect to see a Windows phone inside, given that the advert ends with the Orange brand?" the source said.
? Google is launching its long-expected web-based ebook offering, now renamed Google eBooks, in the US from today and said it aimed to bring it to other countries next year.
The launch means that there are now three big players ? Amazon, Apple and Google ? in the ebook market, with the latter two having only just joined this year. Apple launched into the market with its iBooks offering for its iPad tablet in April.
Previously known as Google Editions, the new platform will be web-based but incorporate various technologies to prevent piracy.
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