Presented in October 2016, Google Pixel smartphones received positive reviews, but, apparently, the company could not avoid problems with sales and take advantage of the failures of competitors. This is written by The Washington Post.
According to analysts, referred to by the newspaper USA Today, in 2016, Google sold about 552 thousand phones Pixel. For comparison, the implementation of the iPhone in October-December measured 78 million pieces, and Samsung took a little more than a month to sell 2.5 million flagship Galaxy Note 7 before their recall.
Analyst IDC Ramon Llamas estimates less than 1% share of Google in the global smartphone market against 18.2% for Apple and 18% for Samsung.
It seemed that the line of Pixel is waiting for success, given the wide functionality of the devices, the popularity of the Google brand, the failure of Galaxy Note 7 and the lack of significant innovations in the iPhone 7. Google spent about $ 3.2 million on marketing promotion Pixel, focusing on the attitude of phones to its popular brand. However, gadgets are not widely used.
One of the main problems of Google analyst Wave7 Research Jeff Moore (Jeff Moore) believes that the phones Pixel in the US sells only one mobile operator - Verizon. In this case, according to the latter, in February 2017, Pixel accounted for only 6.2% of phones activated in the company's network, which is less than the figure of three months ago.
The situation is aggravated by the low availability of Pixel in stores, continues Jeff Moore. This may signal a good demand, but at the same time, does not allow Google to take full advantage of this demand, the expert added.
According to the information portal The Verge, Google has encountered some problems with the supply of components for its phones.
The management of Google has repeatedly expressed its satisfaction with the sales of Pixel.
However, this project can be considered an experiment rather than a full-fledged success, says Ramon Llamas.
Not so long ago, the head of Google's device development department Rick Osterloh (Rick Osterloh) said that the second generation of smartphones Pixel will be presented before the end of 2017. The manufacturer does not intend to change the market positioning of devices: they will remain in the upper price segment, and the budget version of Pixel is not in the plans of the company, the top manager.