Canadian Carrier Telus Already Discontinuing Galaxy Nexus Ahead of Galaxy S III Launch

Given that the Google flagship Galaxy Nexus smartphone–a phone that’s geared towards the Android purist as no additional UIs or skins have been overlaid on top of the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS–launched on Canadian carrier Telus just at the beginning of the year, it’s surprising to hear that the phone has now been discontinued by the carrier less than half a year later. Telus has thus far not given any reason why it’s no longer carrying the Google’s Galaxy Nexus, which is made by Samsung, but there is speculation that Telus’ decision may be due to the fact that the carrier is expecting to stock Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S III smartphone.

The move may make sense as Samsung’s Nexus phones have led to slightly improved, but heavily skinned Galaxy flagships. The Nexus S paved way for the Galaxy S II and it would make sense that the Galaxy S III will be Samsung’s improved product from the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, and one that would bear its signature with custom software and the company’s TouchWiz UX.

At least in the U.S., Google has had a hard time gaining mainstream adoption of its Nexus product. The Nexus One by HTC was sold direct through Google and found limited adoption on carriers AT&T and T-Mobile USA. When the Nexus S by Samsung came around, wireless carrier Sprint was added to the mix. And then the Galaxy Nexus debuted initially on Verizon and then was brought over to Sprint. For GSM carriers AT&T and T-Mobile USA, Google is offering a 16 GB version of the phone direct to consumers for $400.

Also on the list of discontinued devices that was obtained by Mobile Syrup are Apple’s iPhone 4 in 16 GB capacity as well as the magenta color of the Nokia Lumia 800.