We’re about a month out from the arrival of the Google Pixel Fold, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. To tell the truth, I’m doing my best not to think about this device, watch videos about it, or generally bring it up in conversation when not necessary just so I don’t have to deal with the fact that it’s still 4 weeks from release. I’m as excited for the Pixel Fold as any gadget I’ve ever bought, and I can’t wait for mine to arrive.
And though I would have told you I was in the vast, vast minority of people that feel this way, it turns out one variation of the Pixel Fold has already sold out in the Google Store. Yep, that’s right: the expensive folding phone from Google is already unavailable in one configuration.
The white Pixel Fold is sold out
If you head over to the Google Store and go to buy the Pixel Fold, you’ll note quickly that the standard model with the white (or ‘Porcelain’) exterior is already sold out. Surprisingly, the ‘Obsidian’ version with the 512GB of storage was market as ‘Out of stock’ before today and has since returned. That device being sold out wasn’t quite as shocking since I’m sure Google didn’t build too many of the pricier model.
The standard $1799 model already having one of the two available colorways out of stock is a bit of a surprise, however, and I’m still not quite certain what that means. One of two things are true, however, and I’m really rooting for the latter. The first – and most likely – scenario is that Google didn’t make too many of these out of the gate, so supplies are low and with a month left of pre-orders, the Google Store made its goal.
A more interesting story would be that Google built quite a few of these devices and public interest is simply higher than expected for such a unique and expensive device. After waiting for so long for this exact phone, I know that storyline would be a lot more fun to tell. But until we hear some numbers from Google down the road, I’m inclined to believe that inventory numbers were simply low on purpose.
Don’t forget about carriers
But these are only numbers from Google. Don’t forget that the major carriers will all have the Pixel Fold as well, so there are likely a ton of people waiting to see what sort of incentives they can get on the Pixel Fold once those start showing up. While Verizon has pre-orders already announced, we don’t yet know what AT&T or T-Mobile plan on offering, so I’d imagine tons of potential buyers are waiting for those deals to drop before making a move.
Assuming more people buy expensive phones through their carrier than directly from the manufacturer, I’d also assume Google allocated more inventory for those carriers than it did for itself in this instance. And if that’s the case, selling out of one of the colors may not be indicative of huge sales numbers. Still, it definitely indicates some serious interest in this phone, price be damned.
For me, I’m unsure if we’ll get a review unit so I wanted to be sure to have a Pixel Fold as soon as possible. For this reason, I went ahead and jumped on the standard ‘Obsidian’ model with the free Pixel Watch from Google. I have some devices around that I can sell at this point to offset the cost, and as I’ve said many times before, I’ve been waiting for this phone for a very long time. And if that is you as well, I’d make the move sooner than later. Once this one sells out, I’m just not sure how quickly more stock will arrive.
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