International Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 launch blighted by stock shortage

Google's Nexus 4 smartphone and Nexus 10 tablet went on sale internationally today, and already both have sold out, some just 20 minutes after the Google Play store opened. The U.S. launch is still to come, and could experience similar problems.

Today sees the release of the new Google Nexus 4 smartphone and the Nexus 10 tablet, both announced at the end of October to considerable excitement, primarily over their competitive pricing and their unusual, in the U.S. at least, method of sale.

Eager buyers in Australia, the UK, Spain, France and Germany should all have access to the Google Play store by now, where they’ll find the new phone and tablet all ready and waiting. At least, that’s the theory, except not everyone is finding Nexus Day a very pleasant experience.

Australia was the first to go live, and according to buyers trying to order from the site, the Nexus 4 had sold out in 20 minutes, and the Nexus 10 soon after. AndroidAustralia.com confirmed with Google that the Nexus 4 was indeed sold out, and was told simply to “stay tuned for updates about availability.

It’s a similar story in the UK too, with the Nexus 4 altering from “Buy Now” to either “Notify Me,” or simply “Coming Soon” after half-an-hour. The rush to order one of Google’s new toys was so great, many found they couldn’t access the site, then even if they did get in, adding a device to the shopping basket was impossible.

Reports from Spain and France say the same thing: No stock and terrible trouble accessing the store. A Twitter search reveals plenty of annoyed prospective buyers, with one tweet from the UK perfectly summing up the situation: “Received email to say Nexus 4 is now available. Clicked on it. Sold out.”

Google hasn’t made many friends so far today, so it’ll be interesting to see how it does closer to home. Google isn’t telling anyone when it’s going to open the doors in the U.S., however around 9am PST is now rumored after the initial 12.00am PST target was missed.

It’s safe to say that if you want to be among the first to get a Nexus 4 or Nexus 10, you’ll need to stay close to your computer, as it could all be over very quickly.