The announcement that Harvey Norman is the exclusive distributor/authorised reseller for the Nexus 4 is a bit of a concern. Until recently I could find the Nexus 4 on the Play Store using an Android based tablet. Now I can’t find any of the Nexus range using the Play Store on the tablet.
I’ve included the following link which was found using my Windows 8 based notebook and is included here for others who may be interested in the Nexus 4.
Nexus 4... Read More
My concern is, will Google phase out Nexus devices from their Play Store using local reseller partners and as a result the price ends up getting bumped up considerably. On the Play Store the Nexus 4 with 16GB is $399 plus delivery (currently out of stock), but Harvey Norman’s price will be considerably more at $496. The price on the Play Store for Americans is $349USD (sales tax needs to be added) so even at $399 Australians are paying more than Americans. One American wrote they purchased the Nexus 4 16GB unit including sales tax and delivery for under $400 and given the exchange rate we should be able to just as good in terms of pricing.
This just gives me a bad feeling that Australian consumers may be locked out of the cheaper price with large Australian retailers negotiating exclusive rights. I could be wrong and the Nexus 4 may yet still become available on the Google Play Store, but I don’t think this is looking good for Australian consumers.
For me this puts me off Harvey Norman and buying anything at Harvey Norman. First Harvey Norman lobby hard for the GST threshold to be removed or lowered for those buying direct from overseas and now selling products at much more expensive prices that Australians could previously purchase the Nexus 4. I’ve purchased a lot of expensive products from Harvey Norman over the years but this is starting to put me off Harvey Norman. Whilst I’m probably jumping to conclusions I’ll wait and see what happens. Only time will tell.
- Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
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My concern about Australians not having access to the cheaper price on the Google Play Store appear to be unfounded, which to me is good a thing.
ReplyDeleteThe status for the Nexus 4 has changed to "Shipping Soon" and it looks like you can place an order. I can't imagine Google then not fulfilling the order.
This is the second product Harvey Norman or their staff have claimed to have exclusive rights to (the other being the Microsoft Surface according to a staff member at Greensborough Shopping Centre.)
Be careful, as I've noticed a number of companies charging quite high prices for the Nexus 4 which indicates they are taking advantage of the stock shortage situation.
Kelvin