Retailers rebel as LG tries pricing Nexus 4 up to €599
LG is facing an angry backlash from some prospective customers after it emerged that the manufacturer was trying to charge as much as €599 for the Nexus 4 handset.
The Nexus 4, like all Nexus Android devices, is the result of a close partnership with Google. The software firm is offering European customers the handset for between €299-€349 (£239-£280) through the Google Play store, but it now appears that the manufacturer is aiming for a much higher retail price via other channels.
The higher price was revealed on Friday by Phone House, Carphone Warehouse's Spanish arm, which said on its Facebook page that it had decided to suspend the sale of the Nexus 4. It said the manufacturer's recommended price of €599 made it impossible for the retailer to honour its low price guarantee.
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Meanwhile, as The Next Web has noted, LG seems to have instituted a similar price point in Italy and Austria.
The UK operations of Carphone Warehouse are not offering the Nexus 4 SIM-free at all, selling it only with contracts attached.
Some of those contract prices have already irked customers — the comments thread on this O2 blog post shows people expressing outrage that, although Google sells the 16GB version of the phone for £279, O2's pricing over a two-year contract totals £864. If LG's wholesale price for operators is also unexpectedly inflated, that may explain some of the high contract pricing.
The pricing of the Nexus 4 is one of its most attractive points, as €349 is very low for a high-end Android smartphone, even one without LTE capabilities. Other powerful-but-cheap Nexus devices, such as the Nexus 7 tablet, have not been marked up for retail sales outside of Google Play.
ZDNet has asked LG for comment, but had received none at the time of writing.