Discussion on:

Nexus One's biggest challenge isn't iPhone; it's Google's online-only sales model

Their strategy is to push the playing field in a direction that better suits their core business, which is providing advertisements online.

The US cell phone industry needs regular kicks in the pants to keep it humming, otherwise we'd still be playing Old Snakey on our monochrome Nokias.

This is the same strategy being employed against US broadband providers with the upcoming "Google Fiber" project, and has been successfully employed with Gmail, among other services. They're not interested in selling a phone, they're interested in pushing the marketplace.

The problem is not the online sales model either, lots of companies are successful selling products online. The problem is the lack of an online support model, where only FAQ's and support forums are not sufficient. Consumers need someone to talk to when things go wrong and there needs to be return/exchange processes in place as well.

GOOGLE is set to launch their phone product(s) all over the world and thats the only reason they sell it unlocked and have not tied up with any specific provider.The US is not the only market where such products sell.
Its a perfect model. They do all the marketing they want, build up hype (similar to the iphone hype) and anyone who really is entusiastic about having a NEXUS will wait till the sun goes down to get one.
No uncessary complicated agreements/contracts with carriers,no silly retailer price wars. They get all the feedback from the users directly and can work their way, improving their product.