Google Discontinued Nexus 6, Focus on Nexus 6P
Nexus is Google's flagship product for smartphone and tablet computer, manufactured by various companies in cooperation with Google. The latest one is Nexus 6P as the successor of Nexus 6 which has been discontinued last Tuesday.
According to Droid Life, Google has officially pulled the plug on selling last year's Nexus 6 from Motorola on the Google Store. Although Nexus 6 is no longer available in Google Store, but for consumers who still want to have Nexus can buy it on eBay and Amazon on sale.
Nexus is a line of smartphones, tablet computers and digital media players running on Android OS and considered as Google's Android flagship product. Since 2010, Google partnered with various manufacturers to produce Android devices as Original Equipment Manufacturers or OEM. The first smartphone in the Nexus line is Nexus One, produced by HTC and launched in January 2010.
A year after Nexus One, Google and Samsung co-developed Nexus S and Samsung Galaxy Nexus. In 2012, LG released Nexus 4, Nexus 5 in the next year and Nexus 5X in 2014. Motorola Mobility developed Nexus 6 in 2014, and in September this year Huawei launched Nexus 6P as the latest in line.
After Google discontinues Nexus 6, there are only LG's Nexus 5X and Huawei Nexus 6P available as its flagship product now. According to The Verge, prior to Nexus 6P, the Motorola-made device was Google's largest phone and is categorized as phablet.
Since its first launching in October 2014, Google Nexus 6 have made a successful market penetration following the growing popularity of phablet in 2013. Motorola Mobility developed Google Nexus 6 as a phablet, a device that combined a form factor of phone and tablet. The name phablet itself is a portmanteau of phone and tablet.
Phablet started to gain popularity in 2012 when manufacturers flooded the market with big screen smartphone, from 5 inches to 6 inches of diagonal size. Samsung was credited as the pioneer with its Galaxy Note series in 2011 and followed by other manufacturers such as LG, Lenovo, HTC. Google then partnered Motorola Mobility to follow the trend.
Prior to discontinuing Nexus 6, Google has already prepared its new phablet with Huawei, the Nexus 6P. Ubergizmo said Nexus 6P is one of the most anticipated Android handset of 2015. Since it is seen as the high-end handset and equipped with the most advanced Android software and features. Market also have high expectations for its excellent quality/price ratio.
Google will try to keep its Nexus flagship product to be exist in the phablet market. Although it has discontinued the Nexus 6, but Google has prepared the more advanced Nexus 6P.