I dunno, compared with Samsung, sales of the entire Nexus line have tanked.
The Nexus line was never meant to be high volume. It's not made for a variety of carriers. A direct sales comparison doesn't matter. Higher sales doesn't necessarily mean better phone (something most Android users have been telling Apple users for years). Bottom line, sales figures are irrelevant unless an OEM needs high volume to cover other costs and is failing (IE, HTC).
Then there is Google's inconsistent support for their Nexus line (no ART in the Nexus 7, no transparent bars in the 10, with lousy excuses for both omissions),
ART is in beta and not officially supported outside of the development channel. When ART is finally launched as the default runtime, it will only matter which devices are getting that Android update. Nexus 7 (2012) will be end of life by then.
As for the nexus 10, ultra high resolution combined with weaker GPU (by today's standards) means some newer features won't be supported. The amount of redrawing needed just to support a transparent overlay in addition to the other overlays being rendered uses far more resources than most imagine. Heck, the original Snapdragon S1 devices (Nexus One, HTC Desire, etc.) couldn't do full blown hw accelerated UI because the fill-rate on the Adreno 200 was so piss-poor, it was barely enough to render the home screen.
GPE device hardware is 100% the same as their non GPE versions. Samsung GS4, HTC One M8, LG G Pad 8.3, and Sony Xperia Z Ultra GPE all have SD slots just like their counterparts. That's 4/6 GPE devices have SD slots. The two that don't have a slot, Moto G and HTC One M7, their non-GPE counterparts don't have a slot either.
Except that the issue is more than just hardware based. Google drastically altered MicroSD practices with Android versions 3.0, 4.3, and 4.4, with strict enforcement for 4.4 going forward. With my S4 GPe, the MicroSD functioned as expected on Android 4.2, reduced functionality with 4.3, and damn near useless on 4.4. The Touchwiz variant of the S4 has a slight modification that allowed app developers to get r/w permission for the entire MicroSD card and is currently supported in apps such as ES File Explorer and Drive Autosync. No such luck on the GPe variant.
And the GS4 GPE has a removable battery just like it's counterpart.
And it's the only one. He's wrong as this wasn't a Google decision, but something that OEMs are migrating towards regardless. Not having to account for user accessibility to the battery means reduced engineering time, concessions, and budget. Also, given battery recharge cycles, it ensures a standard 2-3 year upgrade cycle at a time when phones more than 2 years old are still powerful enough to run current software. It's planned obsolescence, but I don't blame Google for it.
Nearly one year after its launch, the Galaxy S4 GPe is still the ONLY device with stock Android and a removable battery. The Nexus 5 is a viable alternative because it is significantly cheaper and therefore I could justify replacing it with another cheaper phone when the battery dies. My usage patterns cause the battery to become unusable in 12-15 months (did so on my Incredible, my S2, and headed that way on my S4). I've always been able to extend the life of my phone with a quality $10-$20 battery. I'm not spending $600-$700 on a phone that needs to be thrown away in a year.
(