Improving Nexus 4 supply is top priority, says Larry Page

LG and Google seem to be working together to bring the Nexus 4 supply chain back in line. According to TechCrunch, Google CEO Larry Page revealed in a conference call regarding the company’s quarterly earnings that fixing the supply chain is a major priority for the search giant.

Page said that there is “work to be done managing our supply better… and that is priority for the teams.” This comes as a welcome acknowledgement regarding the problems with the low stock of the Nexus 4 in the face of high demand. LG Communications Director Cathy Robin had gone even further and promised that the company would have a better supply of the Nexus 4 by the last week of February.

The supply of the Nexus 4 will be back on track soon

Rumours suggest that LG and Google have created an artificial scarcity of the device to boost eventual sales and to generate hype around it. Another theory is LG has stopped production of the Nexus 4 to better sell its own Optimus G smartphone. But Robin categorically stated that LG has denied this and insisted that the Nexus 4 will continue and contrary to the rumours, production rate will sped up in the coming few weeks. LG expects the market to settle by mid-February and more Nexus 4 handsets will be available for sale.

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It is no surprise that the demand for Nexus 4 has hit fever pitch. Its large, high-resolution screen, powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, a unique approach to design – its glass back is etched with a design that sparkles under the right light – and the latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system are all coveted. And its very competitive price only serves to help this cause. The demand for the phone was so high at the time of the launch that the entire batch from Google’s US Play Store was sold out within an hour.

LG’s current flagship phone, the Optimus G is a near replica of the Nexus 4, with many similarities in the specifications. It has the same processor and display, but runs an older version of Android, 4.1, unlike the Nexus 4’s 4.2 Jelly Bean. As reported earlier, members of the XDA-Developers forum have come up with a software hack that converts the firmware of LG’s Optimus G into that of an 8GB Nexus 4. This is made possible by swapping software elements customised by LG with their Nexus 4 counterparts.

LG has announced the availability of the Optimus G in 50 more countries with LTE coverage. The second phase of this launch comes on the back of the fact that more than a million Optimus G handsets were shipped in Q4 2012. With much of the phone’s hardware being developed in-house by LG, it’s no surprise that LG is pushing its flagship device to more corners of the world.