Google closes down its Nexus One web store following an earlier announcement that it would do so after it unloads one last shipment of the smartphone. The Web site now displays this message "Sorry, folks. The Nexus One is no longer available for purchase directly from Google."

The phone can still be bought through carriers and online (only for registered Android developers).

The web store was launched last January, with the search engine company saying that it would "fundamentally change the way phones are sold." The "superphone," as Google described it, was built in partnership with HTC and was sold solely through the store. The company said that the Nexus One was the first in a range of devices it planned to release. The company was also said to be working on a Nexus Two.

The web store sold the smartphone unlocked or bundled with services from carrier T-Mobile. When the phone was launched, Google said that Verizon and Vodafone would also carry the smartphone. Vodafone later announced that it would be sell the phone through traditional retail channels.

Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, later announced that the company would not produce a Nexus Two because the Nexus One was "so successful."

In an interview with the Telegraph, Schmidt said, "The idea a year and a half ago was to do the Nexus One to try to move the phone platform hardware business forward. It clearly did. It was so successful, we didn't have to do a second one. We would view that as positive but people criticised us heavily for that. I called up the board and said: 'Ok, it worked. Congratulations - we're stopping'."