Seven months after Google launched its first phone, the HTC-designed Nexus One, it has stopped selling the devices through its online store.

"Sorry, folks...The Nexus One is no longer available for purchase directly from Google," the company announced.

Google had warned users about this in May, saying it planned to wind down its web store.

Those who still want to buy a Nexus One will now have to go through Vodafone but that's limited to some parts of Europe. Google promises it will make the device available to "registered developers" through a partner.

The Nexus One launched with what seemed like an innovative idea in the retailing of phones. Instead of being sold through stores, Google would directly sell it through the web to customers –something that worked for other consumer electronics products. However, the strategy didn’t resonate with consumers.

Potential customers found they couldn’t find a Nexus One in the real-world to play with, unless they knew a friend who already had the device. Google's customer service support for the device also left many users unhappy.

Google has acknowledged that its retailing model with the Nexus One failed to catch on with consumers.

"While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the web store has not," wrote Andy Rubin, vice-president of engineering and Android czar at Google in a blog post in May. "It’s remained a niche channel for early adopters."

At the same time, Google tried to put the devices into retail stores in U.S. I wireless, a T-mobile affiliate, got Nexus One at its 250 stores mostly in the Midwest. So far, it hasn't announced any other retail partnerships.

So is the Nexus One dead or is the Nexus One web retail experiment over? The answer to that will depend on whether Google will take the risk to launch a successor to the phone or if it will be content to let other handset makers take Android forward.

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