Nexus 4 US availability to improve with T-Mobile with snag

The saga of the lack of stock of the Google Nexus 4 smartphone by LG has been rumbling on since its release back in November. The demand has been huge yet supplies scarce and so many people who want to purchase this impressive phone have been unable to. This looks set to ease soon though, at least for those in the US as T-Mobile has stated it is to sell the Nexus 4 phone through more stores so that soon it should be available in every one of its stores nationwide, plus the carrier will begin selling the Nexus 4 online later this month, however there is a snag and that concerns how much you will pay.
The dire lack of Nexus 4 stock worldwide has reflected badly on Google and LG but we have no intention of raking up old coals again as we have discussed this several times now. The Nexus 4 originally went on sale directly through the Google Play Store as an unlocked device at $299 for the 8GB model or $349 for the 16GB variety. The only other way to get it in the US was through T-Mobile in select stores with limited availability but prices were much higher at $199 on a two-year contract for the 16GB model or $499 for the same model unlocked. However shortages of stock continued and so multitudes of potential customers have missed out on buying a Nexus 4 so far and have also been left unable to order one through Google Play where it has been listed as ‘sold out.’
However it looks as though availability it about to improve following T-Mobile’s latest news. We recently told UK readers that accessibility to the Nexus 4 was about to widen as Virgin Mobile had started to sell the device and now for US readers T-Mobile has just extended sales of the Nexus 4 through more of its retail stores. The even better news is that T-Mobile announced that all of its stores nationwide will have the Nexus 4 within the “coming weeks” and that the phone will also be on sale at T-Mobile online from January 23rd.

So that’s the good news but what about that snag. Well the 16GB model will still be selling through T-Mobile at that $499 price tag for the unlocked version or $199 on a two-year contract, according to The Verge. Remember that 16GB unlocked version is only $349 through Google Play so for the privilege of being able to obtain the Nexus 4 through T-Mobile you’ll be paying an extra $150 for the unlocked variety and that’s a huge difference. However if that’s the only way that consumers can get their hands on this notable handset they may decide they are willing to pay the price.
We’re really interested to hear from readers about this. Have you been trying to obtain the Nexus 4? If you’ve had no luck so far through the Google Play Store would you be prepared to pay such a large premium to get the Nexus 4 unlocked through T-Mobile? Maybe the T-Mobile contract alternative is more appealing? Let us know with your comments