This January, when Google released Nexus One, they've also introduced to the market a mobile phone store, where you could have buyed this smartphone from. You could have picked the phone, the plan and mix between every option. The user didn't had to do many things for buying the Nexus One. It seems now the phone was not such a revolution because many producers preffered other models, as HTC or iPhone.

Producers as Verizon Communications didn't liked to give up control and decided not to sell Google's smartphone. Because of this and other companies, the mobile phone seems more a flop than a market-breaking release. It's obvious users like to see and control the phone by hand before buying it. When you buy a book or an HDD you don't need to, but buying a mobile phone (especially one that can cost more than $500 unlocked) is an important investition and you may need to research and compare a lot before taking a decision. 

Google's online mobile store was not a good idea and they know it. Maybe know more companies will agree to sell Nexus One and the phone will spread around, but I've never seen Google as a good mobile phone producer. I don't really think they can match Sony Ericsson, Blackberry or Nokia and this is definitely in their disadvantage.

Source: TechCrunch