Why Google Won't Sell A gPhoneWhy Google Won't Sell A gPhone

This was a rare week when a new rumor about the long-awaited gPhone from Google arriving ANY MOMENT NOW did not emerge. If I had a nickel for every time a blogger has announced that the prospective device has been "confirmed," I'd have a lotta nickels. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say: It ain't happening.Oh, I'm not saying that the reports of the gPhone's development are false (note that the headline of this post says "Sell," not "Make"). I'm saying that with its $185.4 billion market cap, the search company is perfectly willing to pour millions into designing and stealth-marketing a device that may never hit the market. Why? To force the carriers and the handset vendors to play by Google rules.

In fact, the whole gPhone effort, at which I have no doubt dozens of Google elves are toiling away as I write this, may be a "wedge" tactic to force open carriers' networks and vendors' screens to the do-no-evil logo. Google wants real estate and eyeballs, not handset sales. Here are six reasons why Google won't go into the mobile phone business: