Setting up nRF Connect SDK: Git clone vs West init

[AmiguelS]

What is the difference between doing

git clone https://github.com/NordicPlayground/fw-nrfconnect-nrf.git
cd fw-nrfconnect-nrf
west init
west update

and

west init -m https://github.com/NordicPlayground/fw-nrfconnect-nrf.git
west update

The first one fails to update, while the second one succeeds.