Being stuck in the middle works for Google.
Since 2016, when the original Pixel debuted, it has felt like Google just needed one more year, and then another, to make the brand a household name. To be broadly considered a success.
And judging by the Pixel`s outsized influence in the Android smartphone market relative to its reported sales numbers, I`d say Google can celebrate that success. Its phones are synonymous with great cameras, with innovative and useful software features, and with playful if divisive approaches to smartphone design.
But influence doesn`t sell phones, and Google`s Sisyphean journey to bring its own Android experience to more people just hasn`t really worked. At the high-end, Pixel phones could never compete with Samsung, LG, Huawei and OnePlus (among others) on sheer brute-force specs; and on the value side, Pixels cost too much to attract the value-conscious buyers of Motorola and Nokia products. As the classic Stealers Wheel song goes, they were stuck ...
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