Harvey Norman launched the Google Nexus 4 as the exclusive retail partner for the Australian market back on the 1st of February and sold out almost immediately in most stores. More units were ordered, but Harvey Norman has since removed the device from their website – a move made to avoid disappointing customers trying to get their hands on Google’s flagship phone.
We spoke to Colin Wright from Harvey Norman, who shed some light on the matter for us. There still seems to be a global supply shortage of the Nexus 4, with some countries still unable to get stock at all. Harvey Norman expected their next shipment to arrive in mid-March but has had to push estimates for fulfilling existing preorders back to mid-April. While they’re no longer taking pre-orders through their website, some stores will still take an order in person for you – you should also check with your local store to see if they still have any stock left to allocate.
Momax Case
Colin also advised that for those people looking to walk into a store and pick up a case for their Nexus 4, Harvey Norman will be begin selling a Momax case for the Nexus 4 around the same time for $20.
The Momax case is available in Black and White:
Even better news, Harvey Norman has advised they will be supplying one of these covers as a bonus free of charge to anyone who has placed an order and is still waiting for their device to ship.
Software Updates
We’ve also confirmed through LG that despite the Nexus 4 being available from Harvey Norman on a contract with Optus, they will NOT have anything to do with the device’s software update cycle – good news for anyone who experienced the less-than-stellar update performance from Optus with their branded Galaxy Nexus.
At the end of the day, while there is a premium to purchasing a Nexus 4 from Harvey Norman there are also advantages – you can walk in to the store and hold the device in your hand before purchasing, and you’ll have someone to speak to in person if something goes wrong. The addition of accessories is welcome, and Harvey Norman is still working to see if more accessories will be made available at a later stage.
Are you waiting for a preordered Nexus 4 from Harvey Norman? Would you purchase a case for your device from them?
Once again, LG has screwed me. Seems every LG product I’ve encountered has something wrong with it and the Nexus is no exception. I knew from day one that something would happen.
Might as well wait until May and pick up the next Nexus device.
wait whats wrong with it? Also the next Nexus will prob be around Nov like the last few not at Google I/O
LG’s production line. They knew there was going to be high demand but they fell far behind. And even some of the ones that were released on time had odd issues with them.
The supply shortage was mainly due to google not forecasting the correct sales.
When Apple wants lots of iPhones, Apple pays for new factories to be built. LG provided what Google ordered, if Google had ordered a sufficient volume or covered the cost of custom production lines then maybe things would be different. I know that I wouldn’t set up facilities to build millions of phones for a company that only ordered a few thousand.
Good job Google, well done, really nailed it