Google has a problem: Pixel 3 sales just aren’t cutting it right now. The search giant’s third-generation of pure-Android Pixel phones may have been its best
Google has a problem: Pixel 3 sales just aren’t cutting it right now. The search giant’s third-generation of pure-Android Pixel phones may have been its best yet, but underwhelming sales haven’t reflected that. Question is, can the upcoming Pixel 3a turn things around?
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are, ironically, perpetually recommended phones. As expressions of Android as Google intends it – and, indeed, as demonstrations that you don’t need a half-dozen cameras to take a fantastic photo – they’ve rightly been praised by reviewers and users alike.
So, it came as a surprise when Google confirmed this week that Pixel 3 had, in fact, been struggling. “Hardware results reflect lower year on year sales of Pixel,” Ruth Porat, Alphabet and Google’s chief financial operator, admitted on the company’s Q2 2019 earnings call, “reflecting in part heavy promotional activity industry-wide given some of the recent pressures in the premium smartphone market.”
In short, the phone space is tough right now, and Google isn’t seeing the return it may have hoped for. Spending on promotions has been considerable, too. Back in November 2018, Google offered a buy-one-get-one deal on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL in an attempt to shift units. Just last month, Google Fi tried to drum up business with another big price cut.
Price creep has been a long-standing criticism of Google’s efforts in phones. The original Nexus series started out incredibly affordably, then progressively rose in price until the series was discontinued. Echoing that, the original Pixel would have cost you $649.
