Recently there was information that Google Pixel set a sales record. True, it was about their own sales. As a result, it was sold in a year in the amount of more than seven million units, but this result cannot be called fantastic and from the famous brands it was ahead only of OnePlus. For comparison, all manufacturers from the TOP-5 in the world in terms of sales ship more than one hundred million units of their products per year. This is the math. The question that remains is why the Pixel is selling so poorly and whether the line can be saved. And most importantly, is it necessary for someone. The answers are not as straightforward as they might seem at first glance.
The Google Pixel is too controversial a smartphone.
Google Pixel is not sold everywhere
When the Google Pixel was first presented to the public, it impressed many after a string of “nexus”, but few were able to buy it. This is due to the fact that the smartphone was sold only in a very limited number of countries. They could be counted on the fingers of one hand and these were not the most bottomless markets on the planet.
Over time, the geography of shipments began to gradually expand, but still it was impossible to say that there are a lot of markets. The same iPhone or Samsung are sold in almost all countries of the world, while Google Pixel, even with gray shipments, is only a couple of dozen. By gray deliveries, I mean mass imports, not a couple of hundred pieces a year.
The first Google Pixel.
If Pixel had a massive presence in all markets and carried out large advertising campaigns, there is no doubt that sales could be increased by one and a half to two times only thanks to this. The only problem is that official sales are not only about bringing a couple of million pipes into the country. These are certifications, service centers, parts, personnel, and much more that Google may not want to contact for the following reason.
Google doesn't make money on smartphones
Of course, Google is a global company in which everything is done by more than one person, and you can hire new staff for additional growth – there is no problem with that. But for Google, selling smartphones isn't their core business. She gets the lion's share of her money from advertising.
Of course, it is necessary to collect a database for advertising, but it does not need its own smartphone for this. It is enough that it Android costs about 75 percent of all smartphones in the world. So she can place ads in each application, slip them into the browser and collect data to build a behavioral model.
This company makes money from advertising.
The smartphone in this case looks like some kind of gift to fans of the brand that brings money, but is not the main source of income for the company.
Googel Pixel is expensive
Until last summer, the Google Pixel was expensive. Its price was comparable to the price of flagships from other eminent manufacturers, which have their own army of fans. They also have inexpensive models that make a big contribution to sales statistics. While Google is selling one Pixel, Xiaomi will already sell a dozen of its inexpensive ones Redmi.
When the $ 400 Google Pixel 3a appeared, it just blew up the market and, despite the limited geography of sales, pulled the sales of the entire line of the company on its shoulders.
Google Pixel is useless in China
China is a bottomless market for almost any manufacturer. For example, even Apple cannot neglect such a market and sometimes even goes too far towards it. For example, it issues iPhone with two physical SIM cards only for China.
Accessing Google in China is a problem.
Google does not work in the Middle Kingdom, and therefore it makes no sense to say that there will be a great demand for a model based on the very services of Google. If we remove this advantage, then the Pixel has too many Chinese competitors, whose smartphones locals will buy at once for two reasons – the desire to support their own and low prices within the country.
Google Pixel appearance
Another complaint about the Google Pixel is its looks. The first generation, even though it was very distinctive and recognizable, but still caused a lot of controversy over the back panel, divided into two halves. In the second generation, the design was calmed down by narrowing this glossy insert.
Then there was the third Pixel with cartoon bangs of some completely unthinkable kind. Nobody liked it. And even I, the person who calmly treats bangs on phones and considers them better than holes, was unhappy.
The Google Pixel 2 was better in design than the first generation.
The whole history of this smartphone is made up of such miniatures that constantly raise some questions. Such fame has already been fixed for him and it is difficult to get rid of it. But the same Pixel 3a looked very good and in many ways helped the company to “take out”.
Google Pixel failures
Well, in the end, one cannot but recall the failures that often plagued Google smartphones. They weren't very loud, but in almost every generation there was something that the ever-dissatisfied crowd clung to.
From the most recent, we can recall the autonomy of the Google Pixel 4, which many lacked even for a day. Maybe because of this, two key members of the development team were fired from the company.
For a phone that costs $ 800, such a state of affairs is unacceptable and it is necessary that everything in it be at least more or less at the level, without obvious failures. The rest will be done Android with a long update period. But first you need to “put together a good house for him.”
Should you buy a Google Pixel
So far, I can only recommend buying the cheaper Google Pixel 3a. I really liked it and given the price reduction due to the fact that it is already a year old, it looks like an even more interesting option.
It is possible and necessary to buy Google Pixel, but the company itself is somehow in no hurry to sell it.
It's too early to talk about new models. From the looks of it, the Google Pixel 4a, which we all can't wait to see, will be good, but it's not there yet. It may even be worth looking for another smartphone to replace it.
The Google Pixel 5 is bound to be fun. Especially against the background of the fact that it is likely to go a different way and become an inexpensive device against the background of other flagships, albeit with a simpler processor. This is enough for him anyway, but, perhaps, the problem with autonomy will be solved.
In general, wait and see, but for now, the Pixel has far more reasons not to be popular than the other way around. Let's see how much the company needs it and how ready it is to promote it. After all, 4 years is a long time, and during this time it was already necessary to show results more than just getting into the top ten in sales. Moreover, for a company like Google.