Gartner says Google Phone is mere "prototyping"

Don't believe the hype about Google building its own mobile phone, a prominent Gartner analyst has told CRN.

Gartner's Research Director for Enterprise Mobility Robin Simpson says that the new Google phone is nothing more than internal prototyping.

"Google has a track record of commissioning a device, trying it internally and refining the software," Simpson says.

As a pure software company, Google doesn't have warehousing, he said, or any of the other physical assets required to ship physical product.

"They might be creating software but don't expect them to create a supply chain or set up a sales channel," Simpson said.

Over the last couple of years, Google's Android OS has steadily increased its cut of the smartphone market. Now it is rumoured that Google has taken things a step further with their own smartphone, reportedly called the Nexus One.

Over the holiday season, Google employees will be trying out new phones made by HTC and loaded up with Android. As Mario Queiroz, Google's Vice President of Product Management says, "we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements."

Jonathan Yarmis, Research Fellow at Ovum, said Google has the capacity to disrupt the mobile phone market if it does make a play with the rumoured 'Nexus One'. 

"More disruptive than the phone itself is likely to be how they approach the business model," he said.

"Will they offer subsidised pricing via some advertising mechanism? If so, that could change the relationship between handset manufacturers, carriers, the platform owner and the customer."