Search engine giant Google has been forced into an uncharacteristic U-turn, as it announces the plans to halt direct sales of its Nexus One mobile phone through its website. Google has admitted that customers prefer getting their hands on a device and also want to try them out before making the purchase.

At the time of making announcement for its first ever own-brand mobile phone, Nexus One, Google was hoping to revolutionize the way of selling mobile phones. When Google unveiled its first ever own-brand mobile phone, the Nexus One, it hoped to revolutionise the way that phones are sold. A month after the phone went on sale in the US, its head of mobile, Andy Rubin said that there would be a series of Google phones but the real innovation in this case is the distribution of cellphones on a web store. Rubin also added that the company had been able to use the launch to create logistics technology which meant that when Nexus Two comes out, they will just put it on the website and it will go worldwide instantly to all the operators which are hooked into their systems.

In a blog posted last week by Rubin, he admitted that it has become clear that most of the customers like a hands-on experience before buying a phone, and they also want a wide range of service plans to chose from.

While Google's mobile phones software platform Android is proving a hit with consumers as well as mobile phone networks, the web store has not been able to achieve that success. Because of this, Nexus One rolls out in more countries, Google will follow the model it has adopted in Europe, where its network partner Vodafone has made the phone available in its own stores and it is also free on certain long-term contracts.