Nexus 4 Bumper - Why out of stock still?

**Dr0me** · 11-25-2012, 03:59 PM

Having never owned a phone with a glass back before, I unfortunately decided to forego the bumper case on Nov 13 when I ordered the phone. Since then, I have decided I need one since this phone is a lot more slippery and fragile than the back of the galaxy nexus I had been previously using.

My question is, why in the world are there not more bumpers available by now? I realize that there is a shortage of phones due to demand. But SURELY these plastic bumpers can be produced at a much faster rate than state of the art smart phones. I ordered a temp case off of ebay but I am 99.99% certain I will not continue to use it after I am able to get my hands on the official bumper. You would think that a higher emphasis would be placed on the availability of the bumpers as this is low hanging fruit for Google / LG to make some easy money. Others may just buy a 3rd party case and not replace it which means Google / LG would lose money.

TLDR? Hurry up and restock the official bumper in the Google Play Store or at least sell them directly from LG / T Mobile

**MrSherms** · 11-27-2012, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by agalvin13

My question is, why in the world are there not more bumpers available by now? I realize that there is a shortage of phones due to demand. But SURELY these plastic bumpers can be produced at a much faster rate than state of the art smart phones. I ordered a temp case off of ebay but I am 99.99% certain I will not continue to use it after I am able to get my hands on the official bumper. You would think that a higher emphasis would be placed on the availability of the bumpers as this is low hanging fruit for Google / LG to make some easy money. Others may just buy a 3rd party case and not replace it which means Google / LG would lose money.

I was wondering the same thing. Since Google is selling a new batch of N4 stock in the US today, I was hoping that meant the bumpers would be back up again as well. Although, I seem to remember signing up for an email alert for those (similar to the phone) and I haven't gotten anything...

**KitN** · 11-27-2012, 03:57 PM

MOAR BUMPERS PLZ?!?

Jesus, Google. How hard can it be to manufacture a, simple, thin band of rubber and plastic in 2 week's time?

Sh*t. :thumbdown:

Sent from my Nexus 4

**guinnkevinr** · 11-27-2012, 05:21 PM

Seriously. All I wanted was the darn bumper. Instead I ended up buying a second N4... I see what they did there.

**qnet** · 11-27-2012, 06:15 PM

I'm in the same boat, I really would like the bumper now. I called the play store and they said they didn't know when they would be available again. I don't want to pay a high price for one on Ebay. The one thing that is crazy with Google is thier ordering process, it's the same thing over & over. I remember way back when they stop selling the Nexus One car & desk docks. I ended up selling mine for almost three times what I paid for them because they were no longer available. The only reason I sold them was becaue I had sold my Nexus one.

**Dr0me** · 11-27-2012, 07:05 PM

My roommate who works for Goog-orola is trying to get me one. It really shouldn't be this hard to spend money on accessories.

**KitN** · 11-27-2012, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by Dr0me

My roommate who works for Goog-orola is trying to get me one. It really shouldn't be this hard to spend money on accessories.

I agree: it shouldn't be this hard to spend money on accessories. We're begging to throw tons of money at Google but they just don't want to take it, Jesus!

And the funny thing is, is that everyone knows the highest profit margins are in accessories. There's tons of cash to be made by selling overpriced pieces of plastic to go along with our devices so why wouldn't they want to throw accessories at us defies all logic and basic business practices.

Google has always been horrible this way. I don't think they will ever change... And I have a sinking feeling that we will never see another accessory, bumper included, from Google for this device again.

They only ordered one round of bumpers and had no intention of ever releasing the charging orb from the looks of it...

Sent from my Nexus 7

**smartphonedude** · 11-27-2012, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by Dr0me

Having never owned a phone with a glass back before, I unfortunately decided to forego the bumper case on Nov 13 when I ordered the phone. Since then, I have decided I need one since this phone is a lot more slippery and fragile than the back of the galaxy nexus I had been previously using. EBay has them for over 90 and I'm not going to pay that but I am considering at most $40. I got my invisible shield today and now I just need my bumper. Come on Google!!!

My question is, why in the world are there not more bumpers available by now? I realize that there is a shortage of phones due to demand. But SURELY these plastic bumpers can be produced at a much faster rate than state of the art smart phones. I ordered a temp case off of ebay but I am 99.99% certain I will not continue to use it after I am able to get my hands on the official bumper. You would think that a higher emphasis would be placed on the availability of the bumpers as this is low hanging fruit for Google / LG to make some easy money. Others may just buy a 3rd party case and not replace it which means Google / LG would lose money.

TLDR? Hurry up and restock the official bumper in the Google Play Store or at least sell them directly from LG / T Mobile

I completely agree Google should've had millions of these made I mean it's pure profit. I'm using a TPU case made for the galaxy nexus while waiting for the cheap one I bought on eBay as well. I'm still in awe how hard it is to find any accessories considering Google's sales. I can understand at first not being any but two weeks later we should have a lot of manufacturers wanting a peace of this phone.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

**Ziptied** · 11-27-2012, 08:07 PM

A vendor change.

**Mac58** · 11-27-2012, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by Ziptied

A vendor change.

I heard that this was possibly a reason why. Well I hope that once they get this settled, they will at least offer the bumper in a few different colors. I didnt think that a vendor change could hold things back this long. I just want a bumper for my beautiful jewel....

**Ziptied** · 11-27-2012, 08:37 PM

They already had multiple colors. green, red, blue, yellow, purple and of course black, to my knowledge that first run of colored ones were given to employees. (I've seen some, but wasn't given one)

**therealmatt84** · 11-27-2012, 09:24 PM

Google needs to get their act together! I realize there is a huge demand for the nexus 4 and the bumper but as big as a company as they are they should be able to handle the demand. I hate to bring it up because of android and apple fanboys and girls but Apple and Amazon do great jobs at their releases. I dont think either have sold out of their own branded accesories and if they do they post a wait time of 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, etc. so that customers can still buy them. I would still buy one if it said a wait time of 2-4 weeks. I also have read that the UK store has the bumpers in stock. What the heck Google!

**Rbower** · 11-27-2012, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by Ziptied

They already had multiple colors. green, red, blue, yellow, purple and of course black, to my knowledge that first run of colored ones were given to employees. (I've seen some, but wasn't given one)

Well if google treated their customers like they treat their employes maybe people would be slightly happier.

**Dr0me** · 11-27-2012, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by Ziptied

A vendor change.

it still is unacceptable. The vendors should have been vetted long ago as soon as the form factor was finalized. If 3rd party Chinese companies can design, manufacture and ship cases within a two week period google should have been able to get this locked down long ago.

**qnet** · 11-28-2012, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by KitN

I agree: it shouldn't be this hard to spend money on accessories. We're begging to throw tons of money at Google but they just don't want to take it, Jesus!

And the funny thing is, is that everyone knows the highest profit margins are in accessories. There's tons of cash to be made by selling overpriced pieces of plastic to go along with our devices so why wouldn't they want to throw accessories at us defies all logic and basic business practices.

Google has always been horrible this way. I don't think they will ever change... And I have a sinking feeling that we will never see another accessory, bumper included, from Google for this device again.

They only ordered one round of bumpers and had no intention of ever releasing the charging orb from the looks of it...

Sent from my Nexus 7

That's what I'm afraid of. Look how long it took for them to release the docks (car & desk) for the Gnex. I didn't get those docks for 8 months and still had to get them from a 3rd part reseller (Espansys). They still don't have the cover for the Nexus 10.

I did something rash and, placed a bid for a bumper on Ebay. I just got outbid and I'm relieved. The seller was charging $20.00 for shipping!

**smartphonedude** · 11-28-2012, 04:13 PM

Am tempted to bite the bullet on eBay but they are going for almost 100 which is insane.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

**jeremydc** · 11-28-2012, 06:16 PM

I want an ORANGE. I would be so happy!. Do not follow the same LUMIA colors. OFFER MORE

**MANdroidd** · 11-28-2012, 07:24 PM

Hmmm maybe they only made enough for the number of Nexus 4's?

**jeremydc** · 11-28-2012, 11:27 PM

ZIPTIED please tell me there is ORANGE!

**I Can Be Your Hero** · 11-29-2012, 04:53 AM

The bumper was available on the Play Store about a week ago and I placed an order. Got the confirmation email but haven't got shipping info. Still waiting.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

**Ziptied** · 11-29-2012, 06:48 AM

Originally Posted by jeremydc

ZIPTIED please tell me there is ORANGE!

Not that I've seen.

**StevieY43** · 11-29-2012, 07:27 AM

I realize this isn't the most reliable data point after the launch day fiasco, but I noticed a new pending charge on my card this morning for the amount of the bumper + shipping

**Dr0me** · 11-29-2012, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by I Can Be Your Hero

The bumper was available on the Play Store about a week ago and I placed an order. Got the confirmation email but haven't got shipping info. Still waiting.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

dammit HOW?!?! I have been looking several times a day every day.

**XChrisX** · 11-29-2012, 10:10 AM

The black Nexus 4 with a red bumper would be AWESOME! Can't wait to get both!

**ZeroMGA** · 11-29-2012, 10:29 AM

I'm still waiting on my Nexus 4, but is the glass really that fragile? I've dropped my iPhone 4 literally dozens of times on hard surfaces, from concrete to other glass surfaces, without a single crack or chip. Hell, it slipped out of my pocket when I was on my motorcyle this summer and bounced down a highway, it was scratched, but did not break. I've heard the glass is supposedly just as good or better, so why the worry?

If there's been legitimate experiences with glass breaking on the Nexus 4 I'd love to know, I really don't want to suffer a broken back, but I don't want to hide the phone's design in fear either.

Edit:

Well that has me worried :\ I live in Alaska, and it's a cold winter thus far. I'd hate to go from using it to sticking it my pocket or car and having it crack.