Google to soon begin selling Nexus 6P via Best Buy, offer the gold variant in the United States

Before the Nexus 6P launched, it seemed — thanks to some early render leaks — that four different colors of the phone were going to be available for consumers. Come the Nexus event in September, only three colors (Aluminium, Graphite, or Frost) were available in most regions, with only Japan announced to be getting access to the last “Special Edition” gold variant. According to people familiar with the matter, the company is planning to soon begin selling the Nexus 6P via Best Buy, and finally launch the gold variant in the United States after only just recently making it available to Japanese customers through cellular carrier SoftBank…

Product exclusives like this one commonly expand to other regions, carriers, or stores after some contractually agreed upon period of time. Gold has long been a popular color of phones and other electronics in Eastern countries, but has become more popular in the United States in recent years partly thanks to Apple’s introduction of the color with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and later the new rose gold variant of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. The gold Nexus 6P seemed like an obvious addition to Google’s 2015 lineup, but it’s only — and barely — available in Japan as of this writing.

Google could perhaps introduce availability of the new color as part of Huawei’s announcements at CES 2016. The Chinese company, which is the up-and-coming (although already huge in China) manufacturer responsible for the much-praised latest flagship Nexus, currently has two press events scheduled for CES 2016. Huawei is planning to announce a few new products on the morning of Tuesday, January 5th (most notably the international Mate 8), followed by a quick event hosted by Huawei’s Honor brand. We’ve been told that Honor is planning to bring the Honor 5X, which recently launched in China, to the US.

While the Nexus 5X is already available through Best Buy, we’re told that the company is bringing the Nexus 6P to Best Buy brick-and-mortar stores and online sometime in the near future as well. Best Buy is known for selling exclusive colors and special variants of consumer electronics, and it’s possible — dare I say likely — that Google will use the opportunity of the gold Nexus 6P launch to partner for such an exclusive. That’s not confirmed yet, although the other three colors of the Nexus 6P; Aluminum, Graphite, and Frost, should also soon be available through the retailer.