T-Mobile stops taking pre-orders for the Google G1 phone?

Posted Oct 1st 2008 1:05PM by Brian White
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Google (GOOG)

When T-Mobile USA and Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced the Google-powered G1 smartphone last week, little did the fourth-largest wireless provider in the U.S. know that it would have to turn customers away.

Anxious customers who want to sign up for the new phone when it's released on October 22nd are apparently getting this message on T-Mobile's website: "Sorry! Due to the overwhelming popularity of the new T-Mobile G1, upgrades are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later." This news is according to the Android Guys blog, which guesses that the Google G1 sold out in four days.

T-Mobile has neither confirmed nor denied that the Google G1 sold out, nor has it released initial sales figures for the still-unreleased smartphone. The G1 is a clear competitor to the Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 3G and to the various BlackBerry and Windows Mobile smartphones. It's also poised to become a huge seller for T-Mobile as more and more touchscreen competitors try to steal some of Apple's thunder.

With the G1 selling for $179.99 with a two-year contract, it's priced $20 lower than Apple's offering. It's over a year behind Apple, though. Sometimes first-mover advantage can be everything -- and Google is not used to being in the position of playing catch-up.

Tags: Android phone, AndroidPhone, GOOG, Google, Google G1, Google gPhone, GoogleG1, GoogleGphone, inthenews