Take a guess! How many Pixel units have been sold since the OG series launched in 2016?
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If you've been a phone enthusiast for a long time, you might remember the start of Google's Nexus phone program. In 2010, the Nexus One, manufactured by HTC, was released and the line became synonymous with "Google phone." The Nexus program featured Google-branded devices from various companies including the aforementioned HTC, LG, and Motorola. The program even included a phone built by Huawei, the Nexus 6P, which was released in 2015.
The Pixel took over from Google's Nexus series of phones
In 2016, Google changed things up and replaced the annual Nexus release with its new Pixel line of smartphones. The Pixel carried a 5-inch screen and the Pixel XL featured a 5.5-inch display. And here we are in 2023 and the Pixel 8 series was just announced earlier this week. Even with a change to the Pixel program in 2021 with the redesigned Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, the series has registered a small blip on the screen when it comes to the history of smartphones.
Nearly 38 million Pixel units have been sold since the first-gen models were released in 2016
A tweet posted by Francisco Jeronimo, VP, Data & Analytics at IDC, says that from 2016 to 2023, Pixel phones have been rung up 37.9 million times. Compare that to the iPhone; according to Demand Sage, 97.7 million iPhone units were shipped and sold during the first two quarters of 2023 alone. Still, the Pixel often is seen as Google's iPhone challenger and in Google's #BestPhonesForever ads that portray the iPhone and Pixel as anthropomorphic best friends, both phones are perceived as equals.
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The truth is that Pixel purchases are on the rise with Jeronimo noting that in the last few years sales have been growing by double digits. Based on the data, approximately 10 million Pixel units were sold last year as the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro were released. And now that Google has broadened the Pixel ecosystem to include the Pixel Watch (the second-gen model has just been unveiled with major improvements under the hood), the Pixel Tablet, and the Pixel Buds Pro top-of-the-line earbuds, we could see Pixel handset sales continue to grow.
Not to say that everything is perfect for Google. The company has a reputation for releasing buggy phones and the Pixel 6 line had issues with the optical fingerprint scanner, the 5G modem, and poor battery life. The Pixel 7 line was a nice improvement but there were issues with the timing of updates. Part of the problem is that Google appears to cut corners in the wrong places such as using an optical fingerprint scanner instead of an ultrasonic scanner. The OG Pixel Watch, launched in 2022, was powered by a 10nm Exynos 9110 SoC, the same chip used to power the first Galaxy Watch in 2018.
Pixel shipments are on the rise
The Pixel series is well ahead of the competition when it comes to AI-based features such as "Hold for Me" which uses Google Assistant to monitor a call where you have been placed on hold, and alerts you when the other party has returned to the call. "Magic Editor" can create the picture you want by making major editing changes to a photo already processed, and Video Boost and Audio Magic Eraser improve the look of videos shot on a Pixel while removing distracting audio from video recordings.
In the U.S., Pixel phones were the only handsets among the top five brands in the states to show year-over-year growth in shipments during the second quarter. For that quarter, Pixel deliveries rose 48% and in Japan, the Pixel is taking market share away from the iPhone.
Google, like Apple, has the advantage of creating the software and the hardware for the Pixel just as Apple does with the iPhone. And Google finally used this to its advantage by promising seven Android OS updates to Pixel 8 series users. This is something that Pixel buyers have been demanding for years and could help sales of the Pixel 8 series immensely.
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