Google either clearly didn’t have enough devices on hand or was planning a smart marketing move to match Apple, with the United States reportedly selling out of all units in just 50 minutes.

Nexus 4 handsets, manufactured by LG Electronics but released as Google branded devices, were available at Google's Play shop worldwide as unlocked 8 and 16 GB models at $349 and $399 respectively.

Stock was quickly emptied this morning however with messages posted asking buyers to leave email addresses to be alerted when more are available.

"Australians wishing to buy a Nexus 4 or the 32GB Nexus 10 can still register their email at the Google Play store and they will be kept up to date about availability in Australia," a Google Australia spokesman told the media.

"There's been so much interest for the Nexus lineup that we've sold out of some of our initial stock in a few countries," the Nexus team said in a post at Google+ social network.

"We are working hard to add more Nexus devices to Google Play in the coming weeks to keep up with the high demand."

The Nexus 4 is deemed extremely well-priced at $349, with most high-end features of rival smartphones, with the exception of 4G capabilities.

Google said it left 4G LTE out due to battery limitations, although by the looks of things this hasn’t affected sales.

It describes its handset as “the best of Google”, with headline features including a strong Google Now experience and a ‘photo sphere’ camera.