In some respects, the Nexus Player is an iconic device. While the ADT-1 was the real and first proof-of-concept Android TV device, this was one which was largely designed for developers to begin the long process of getting used to the new platform and bringing across apps which can be used on Android TV. In contrast, the Google and ASUS collaborated Nexus Player was the first real consumer-available Android TV device. Hence the iconic status. Not to mention, it is actually a ‘Nexus’ product.
That said, over the last few months (and best part of a year) the Nexus Player has slowly fallen out of favor with the likes of the far more powerful NVIDIA SHIELD arriving on the scene. As a result, the Nexus Player has largely remained listed as ‘available’ without actually being available to buy from major retailers and even from the Google Store. More recently, last week at Google I/O 2016, Xiaomi also announced they were entering the Android TV market with the upcoming release of their Xiaomi Mi Box. All indicators which when brought together did not bode well for the future of the Nexus Player. Which by the way, now seems to be officially removed from the market.
While the Google Store has always detailed the Nexus Player as an available product, that very much does now look to be over. While discontinued products on the Google Store normally head to a “no longer available” status, the Nexus Player seems to have completely bowed out with the Nexus Player’s Google Store page listing no longer accessible. Instead the link (below) now just leads directly to the Google Store’s TV & Audio front page, although you can still see the URL is supposed to direct to the Nexus Player page. Whether this is a temporary thing remains to officially be seen, although the TV section of the Google Store is also no longer listing or showing the Nexus Player either. Whether this does mean that a new Nexus Player is in the works, is another aspect which currently remains to be seen. But for now, it does seem like the Nexus Player has left the building.
Nexus Player on the Google Store