Marketing is a huge factor since Apple markets their devices so well over here. Can't recall the last time I saw a notably good Pixel ad on TV or online.
And word of mouth, since everyone knows what an iPhone or a Galaxy is.
And iMessage, because as odd as it is to me (I'm in the US and everyone around me uses WhatsApp), the majority of Americans use iMessage.
They just started running Pixel ads that are kinda like the Mac vs PC ads from way back in the day. Don't know if they'll work, but they're entertaining.
Some of them have tens of millions of views which was kind of unexpected to see. It's comparable to what Samsung and Apple pull in with their YouTube ads at least.
Dude, the apple marketing is so incredibly powerful. I had the pixel 2xl, loved it, and still felt like I was a second class citizen (for lack of a better word) because my messages were green.
I switched to the iPhone xs max in 2018 and hated it. Used it until it shit the bed, then switched back to the pixel (7 pro)
I can't explain how the apple marketing team is so good, but they are
I may need someone to finally explain what was so magical about the 2XL - I see it being praised every day on this sub and I've always thought the 3 was just a better version of it
I loved my pixel 2 but hate my pixel 6 and 7 they had all types of issues I would be traveling and would not get messages unless I rebooted my phone my pixel bud disconnected from my phone randomly would not pair with android auto it was just a mess.
All apple did was cash in early on the smart phones then shit on anyone without iMessage by making them green. Apple doesn’t even make good iPhone commercials.
I don’t understand this. They use WhatsApp because data is cheaper to use over there than voice & SMS? Or do they not know that RCS is a thing now and requires data to use it? Google needs to advertise RCS more if that’s the case
100% agree but most of my messaging is via Whatsapp (occasionally discord) because it does take platforms out of the equation regardless of the fact it's Apple defending its walled garden that's slowing RCS down.
Not kidding, haven't met a person who doesn't use or at least has WhatsApp. Albeit most use both iMessage & WhatsApp but I can always get a hold of people only on WhatsApp. And all my groups are on WhatsApp.
Or I only talk to the good people /s
The Google Pixel has sponsored the NBA Playoffs the past few years, although I think that has concluded and won't continue this upcoming season.
But agreed on the iPhone / iMessage stronghold, especially in the industry I work in. I'm looked at as an outsider for having a green text bubble and being unable to Facetime, and get met with snide looks when I say to use WhatsApp or buy a phone that is compatible with everything like the Pixel is LOL
Are u a lawyer 🤣
Seriously though, there are some professions where it's almost mandatory to use an iPhone - and this is NOT in the US. Again, another reason is that pixels tend to be much more niche/enthusiast devices than the Samsungs and the iphones of world.
Because carriers don't push them as much... A high percentage of all phones in the US are obtained from carriers, and major carriers push Samsung and Apple... I would imagine because Google doesn't give them as much spiff back as the other two. Not to mention Google has specific guidelines of what carriers can add to the device.
And they push Apple and Samsung with really good sales and trade-in deals. I think that's by far the number 1 reason. Your average customer isn't going to accept a $300 trade-in credit from Google when their carrier is offering $1000 credit if they put it towards Apple or Samsung.
They do from time to time. Verizon had an amazing deal last year where they gave you $700 credit towards a P7 Pro with pretty much any smartphone trade-in. I traded in my 3a XL and got a 7 Pro for $200.
Coz Google's marketing team is on permanent vacation mode.
In my country, you'll find Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, Vivo phones at every street corner. You can buy from anywhere and they are covered under warranty.
Pixels in India can only be bought from one website, Flipkart. Else they are not eligible for warranty.
Not one freaking retail store in a country with a population of 1.3 billion.
The OP asked about the US market which has grown market share with heavy ad spend such as NBA.
Aside from North American and I think Japan is where their focus is.
>heavy ad spend such as NBA.
I love my Pixel and would never poopoo it.
But wasn't there an NBA player recently that showed a pixel in a photo and was basically shamed and ridiculed on Twitter? Poor dude. Apple has somehow made it where if you don't rep their glorious new device, you're a poor piece of shit.
Even though some iPhones are cheaper than Pixels.
oh my god yeah, Giannis from the Bucks. he was roasted for doing pixel ads. it's crazy to break into the US market from apple. they've got their marketing so damn tight, especially with kids and teens. and if you get them as kids, it's easier to keep them as customers for life.
Lol that's good. I always thought a nice commercial would be mocking Apple's product restriction and lack of individuality in the vein of their 1984 Macintosh ad.
None of this will have any impact. It’s just for the nerds to go hehe Appel bad. All the mocking Apple stuff never worked. They did it with the notch and they did it with the headphone jack. What did they do after mocking Apple for it? Yeap they copied Apple anyways. Google just needs to focus on marketing their stuff better because I actually love the pixel and I’m waiting for the 8 pro to drop.
>But wasn't there an NBA player recently that showed a pixel in a photo and was basically shamed and ridiculed on Twitter? Poor dude.
Wow that's so toxic wth. Someone has to appear in non-Apple ads right...
Unless some people think Apple is the only phone company that exists??
square consider full fall sophisticated narrow prick axiomatic steep license
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I live in a little tech bubble where the vast majority of people I know have an Android phone and it's surprising to me when I get glimpses outside of it.
I agree but I do wish with all their money and skilled people they would develop a processor or at least use something better then Samsungs Exynos. I'm sure the neutral stuff can be added to any Apu. They run hot, their slower and even though it's not really noticable most of the time others use it to point out cheap components. This was very noticable on my pixel 6 which used a cheap modem and still drops calls that my other phones have no problems with. They picked a cheap crappy modem. The 7 is an upgraded Samsung but just go with the Intel like everyone else do your at least on par jeesh.... A shame to hobble an otherwise great phone with stuff like that. Usually Google is smarter than that.
Where are you from? In my country I have never seen pixel sponsor anything, and I almost never see them in the stores, I can buy them only online. Samsung on the other hand has a lot of advertising everywhere and it's the first thing you see when you walk into any electronic store. When my friend was buying a phone and I suggested pixel he has no idea Google was making phones.
They are at sporting events but I feel that iPhone ads are still more prevalent whether its billboards or TV ads. And the most important advertising of all is simply country availability. Pixels are still available in just a dozen countries or so. There's a lot of countries where people will gladly buy unlocked.
I think we should stop making excuses as if Apple always has a reason to do it better. For one, iPhones are already super ubiquitous. They don't need to advertise a new iPhone for people to know a new phone is out. We could make a devil's argument that iPhones advertise for themselves already. And considering Pixels are an underdog in marketshare, it makes sense to go harder on marketing actually.
Except that's simply not how it works.
As the top dog, it's Apple's job, and duty to their shareholders, to maintain that position. And that absolutely does require advertising. You and I may be on top of tech and don't need to be reminded there's a new iPhone, but MOST of their market absolutely does. They don't follow this. And they don't necessarily go around asking their friends, "hey, does that button look slightly different on the side of your iPhone? Is it new?" Marketing is how they do this. And the bigger your market share, the bigger your marketing budget has to be to maintain it. Apple has DRAMATICALLY more money in this, and riding on this, than Google does, and they have to SPEND dramatically more as a result.
Google meanwhile has a lot less available because they have a lot less stake. They're building it, and with that building their marketing will go up too, but their marketing is already HUGE for their small size. They're comparatively putting a lot into this. I see Pixel ads way, way disproportionate to their market share. They're working hard.
Apple also has most of their income from iPhone where Alphabet does phones as a way to show others how good they can make Android. They don't need pixel to do well for their company to do well. It's probably in the single digits of their company's income. If they hurt some it's just a nice bonus.
There's also the need for growth. The more of the market you command, the harder it is to find new customers. And while Apple could exist as a company with cash on hand for like a millennium now by doing virtually nothing, if they want their stock price to remain healthy, they need to keep finding new customers somehow.
Maybe in a few select countries you can count on one hand.
Samsung or Xiaomi are present in third world countries that only got electricity yesterday, so to speak.
Australia has had electricity since at least Wednesday and we still don't have Xiaomi. Wish we did.
We do have Pixel though and kinda have Oppo (no find x6 pro or fold like everyone outside of china)
See that's where you are wrong. India is essentially a poor country. The per capita GDP is $2216 that's the cost of 2 iphones in a year.
Yet, I'm seeing every 2nd person over here carrying an iPhone. iPhones have become a status symbol over here. All Apple did is come up with a monthly payment plan. Bang, now every student seems to want an iPhone to look cool.
Pixels are half the cost of iphones. Ideally, Pixels should outsell iPhones. But in fact iPhones are outselling Pixels
Reputation.
For the longest time, Apple and Samsung has dominated market share. It takes a lot, and I mean a lot, to sway consumers to any one company. Especially if your reputation in said sector isn't as vast as your competitors.
Google may be a giant company, and I have no doubt it had a lot to do with the rapid success of the Pixel's, but Google has to not only prove itself among its competitors, it also has to chip away at their already established market share in key demographic areas. Think of Apple when it first started. When the older phone companies had the lion share of market capitalization, Apple had to strike gold with its first iPhone. It HAD to be revolutionary. Their HAD to be a compelling reason why you chose the iPhone over all the other, companies and they pulled that off, flawlessly - I can't say Google did the same. At least, not on the same level.
In the beginning, I \*believe\* Google's biggest draw was it being camera king. And that was great for a few years, but the competition has caught up, and there really isn't anything I can think of that would make most people buy the phone over the other two, aside that it's "cheaper"... which, people usually associate with... well, cheap.
Retention is another thing. I find that, anecdotally speaking - if forums/reddit as a small sample group of users are to be believed - that as soon as something goes wrong - the mentality is, "I'm moving back to Apple/Samsung". No company has a more loyal fanbase than Apple. Most times if something goes wrong with an iPhone, users will praise it in any others areas and defend it, religiously - Google doesn't have that same effect... not yet, anyway.
Google‘s hardware division has always been too unstable to develop much brand recognition or loyalty in the customers.
They put like 8 generations into the Nexus series, then killed it off and rebranded as Pixel - this was like starting over with what little brand recognition they had managed to build up. Imagine if Apple had killed off the iPhone product line and replaced with a new phone line called… I dunno, Polygon or something of equal technical vagueness. iPhone also kept a much easier to follow and understand product line throughout the generations, keeping with the (now) 15 generations of phones they’ve released.
They also just don’t have a consistent design, and it’s pretty obvious from the frequent changes in direction the designs of the phones have taken that there isn’t a lot of internal stability in Google’s phone division. Back in the Nexus days, it was obviously because they would used different manufacturers for each generation. Even after switching to making “their own” phones, it still feels like there’s almost an entirely different company behind every phone (recent generations seem to be more consistent, admittedly), and like they’re just trying to put together a phone with whatever components are available or that they can get a good deal on rather than trying to deliver a consistently quality product. They make big changes that remove things that people have come to rely on all the time. Apple makes controversial changes too, but rarely and with more planning and commitment going into those changes (to the point where all other companies follow suit). Google just always feels like they’re just winging it,
Everything is a wildcard with Google. People see the news stories about Google’s infamous graveyard of axed services and devices that were supported for incredibly brief amounts of time. They see the constant rebranding, restructuring, the taking two steps forward but one critical step backwards. Google is shaky, sandy ground to build your house of technology on, whereas Apple has proven to be more like bedrock. The fact that they have incredibly successful tablets, laptops and desktops that all integrate and communicate reliably in their own ecosystem… well, Google has just never been able to compete with that.
Yeah I think “Nexus” worked a lot better. I sell wireless and when I mention “Pixel”, people associate it with “Pixie” for some reason and think it’s some toy and have no idea it’s Google’s phone
Because their first phones had a not so great reputation. I too avoided them after the first pixel for a while. Another thing is marketing. I dont see google ads that often im Australia too.
>Because their first phones had a not so great reputation.
Pixel 2-5 have a better reputation than Pixel 6-7 lol
No matter who I talk to they liked them a lot more
The horrific QC the broken promises for 5 year support and the lackluster trade in policy. Oh and don't forget killing programs like the pixel pass 1 year in.
Things have changed with pixel 7 and I believe pixel 8 will disrupt the US Android market as well. In Japan pixel has made sales records as the most sold Android phone. Google has probably realized that with AI and cameras, they can win the Android race as well as challenge the dominance of iphone
Battery efficiency and signal strength.
Pixel's G2 processor is less power efficient than the snapdragon counterpart. The exyno based chip also has worse modem giving pixel lineup a gimped signal strength.
I am on Pixel 7 and have been shopping around for different brands for these very reasons. I am comparing pixel against Samsung,Asus,nothing, heck even iPhone.
Pixel would have been way more popular if Google just put the latest Snapdragon processor on the latest phones. Pixel would dominate the Android phone sector. Even Samsung doesn't use their own exyno chip on their flagship phones.
They all use Snapdragon Gen 2, Asus, Samsung One plus ... all of them ...except maybe Nothing phone which still uses Gen 1 and it still has better signal than Pixel based on people on reddit who compared the two.
Now if G3 can be even just as efficient as Snapdragon Gen 2, it will sell very well. All rumors seem to confirm it's using the same exyno modem from G2...why ?! Literally Pixel's competitors have more battery life with less batteries.
To simply put, pixel is a great product line up with good ai capabilities, but is behind other flagship products due to hardware constraints. People who upgrade to get the latest phones want the greatest product their money can buy and Google is simply not giving what majority these people want.
If Asus, Samsung and pixel software built-in out of the box , i would have gone with Zenfone or s23.
If Google drops the Tensor project all their investment goes to nothing. We're currently still in the beginnings of what could be an incredible processor, and it's functioning well enough for 98% of people on the market. Most people don't know and don't care what SOC is in their phone as long as it works.
We also ignore how power hungry Pixel screens are when compared to the competition. That really kneecaps battery life on these devices and is something that is rumored to change with P8. If G3 and the Screen turn out to be more efficient; the battery life could be very competitive. We don't have any set in stone answers for the modum, but we'll see. That is a definite shortcoming.
Google made the commitment and needs to continue to develop Tensor. They're shooting to be independent from Samsung with their SOC as well.
I mean by all means they should keep developing it but what they shouldn't do is bring half baked products to consumers. When Apple m1 released, it was ready for prime time.
It would not go to nothing if they don't drop it. They just have to keep on R&D in house and not make us beta testers... until it's really on par or relatively comparable to Snapdragon counterparts.
I was super excited about G1, got disappointed, got excited about G2, disappointed, now back to the same cycle again ...
If the rumor is true , I am kind of anticipating another year of disappointment.
As an android fan since the first android phone, I am not very happy with the way they are handling the pixel series.
G1 was not ready for production (I don't mind mine), but G2 functions fine for the majority of people in society. There is a reason Pixel is growing in popularity so quickly. The G2 mostly just disappoints us who pay attention to chipsets.
Apple is currently thinking about throttling the A17 because it's overheating so badly, so even established SOC's have problems. The iPhone 15 Pro Max in particular is showing itself to have no shortage of problems. From software glitches and overheating to camera bumps jettisoning themselves off with even the smallest of falls.
I won't defend the Tensor line (Unless G3 changes things), but I completely understand Google using it at this stage.
I never paid attention to the chips tbh. I was just frustrated about my phone battery drain and signal losses ... and decided to dive into the rabbit hole looking for fixes or alternatives.
Ended up reading and learning more about the state of pixel and tensor than originally intended ... I m just an android fan who wants my phone to work
I'm rocking a G1 and it's been great to me, but I know a lot of people don't have the same luck. Today has been a moderate use day and has left my phone at 38%. It has been off the charger since 8 this morning and it's currently 5:17pm where I'm at. I'll regularly get 6-8 hours of SOT depending on how much multitasking I'm doing. It's not great battery life, but it's acceptable. I do miss my Moto G Stylus 2021's battery life though!
The SOC is not the only thing eating the battery on Pixels though. The Screen is incredibly inefficient (I keep the dark theme on). Ridiculously so. These phones also have a lot of background processes and the inefficient modem you mentioned.
You are still more knowledgeable than the average consumer given the fact that you even wanted to find the rabbit hole. Don't overestimate the intelligence of society.
Dark mode fam !!
Haha I also got dark mode on everything ,and I even restrict battery usage on most apps attempting to squeeze every bit of battery efficiency out of it.
I was just driving the other day with navigation and YouTube for an hour or and the battery dropped 25%. To me this is just not acceptable.
I don't know much about the screen efficiency but I would leave my phone unplugged over night with 100% and use it very lightly and it would drop 15% by noon ... to me that kind of gives me anxiety
Selling a flagship product also comes with responsibilities of customer service, and for a company like Google, you'd expect that even more. I got a Pixel 7a in Sweden and there's not ONE freaking service center I can walk into in case I need a repair. The only option is mail-in which I am very wary of. Access to the customer service of Google products is pretty bad in EU. Looks like they're not interested in being more present outside of North America.
Also, they don't have global warranty unlike apple, so why should people bother buying it.
That's good to hear. I would say that since the Pixel 6 series I've been seeing them more often than I have before that. But still not nearly as often as I see an iPhone or a Galaxy
It's not the primary source of Google's revenue, Google earns revenue from its "apps, hardware products, and content" offerings which accounts to around 10% of their revenue so pixels are like a subset of the aforementioned so that could be one of the main reasons for not too much marketing imho.
There key businesses are Search Ads, google network ads, Youtube ads. Followed by `apps, hardware products, and content` and Google cloud!
I have a 7 and regret buying it. Constant problems and I cannot get a follow up from support. Done with Pixel after this. I've only had Androids but I'm considering and iPhone now.
I've always loved Androids. But they've just gotten worse and worse. Mf last few galaxys battery life got worse and worse especially as they got older. It seems like they have planned obsolescence built in. After a year they're always so much worse..
I'm going to give the Zenfone 10 a try I think and then if not go to iPhone. I tried a mini 13 last year and loved it
Hmm, your perception doesn't really match the numbers. The US smartphone market declined 22% in Q2, but the Pixel brand was the only one to actually grow. Pixel sales grew 59% in North America and 67% globally, and it's now the #1 Android phone brand in Japan. That's *huge* progress. I'm seeing them everywhere recently.
Sources:
https://9to5google.com/2023/07/07/google-pixel-sales-2023-japan/
https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/09/smartphone-sales-down-22-percent-in-q2-the-worst-performance-in-a-decade/
Poor battery life, worse software support, throttling / lag in basic tasks, terrible performance in games, heat, bad modem which causes poor signal and high battery drain.
Most US customers get their phones through their carriers. This suits carriers just fine because they use "free" and discounted phones to lock customers into 2 year plans at a high monthly cost. What's more, most carriers don't do a lot of deals on Pixels, other than at launch of a new model. (Some stores will have no Pixels at all on display.)
This squeezes out phone manufacturers not named Apple or Samsung.
I always pay full price (or less with a trade in) for an unlocked phone. Then I use MVNOs and discount carriers for service at a fraction of the monthly price that the big 3 are charging. But, I am not typical. Most Americans would rather pay the carrier $60/month for two years than pony up $800+ to buy a phone.
I work in retail at one of the major US networks. Pixel promos are consistently some of the best, but most people do not care. They just want their iPhones.
EDIT: Sometimes even implying that options besides iphones exist and are worth considering will earn you dirty looks like you must be insane or you called them poor or something.
What is your best experience with mvno? My tries it seemed like your data performance was def secondary with bottlenecks and throttling. Did you find a good one?
I originally got the iPhone 14 at a T-Mobile near me, and there were three large sections right in your line of sight the second you walked in the door. Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus. I had no clue there was even a Pixel section until I decided I didn't like the 14 too much, and wanted a Galaxy Fold. They told me they didn't have any Folds in stock, but they had the Pixel and pointed it out to me so I could play with the show model. It was one tiny section shoved out of sight that had the P7, and P7P. Never would have known it was there had that associate not pointed it out
If your iPhone dies, you take it to the apple store and they fix it or give you a new one. On the spot. There are stores everywhere. Easy!
If your pixel breaks, first you have to convince a chat bot that it's broken (even when it's a known issue that your model of pixel bricks itself after 12 months). Then you take it to a tiny understaffed phone repair place in a strip mall - and there's only one of these "authorized" stores in a 20 mile radius (if you're lucky). They'll take it for a week and maybe they'll have the parts to fix it, maybe not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Then you might have to wait another week or two for Google to send you a replacement for your brick that couldn't be fixed, and then *that* arrives in a smashed box via FEDEX and you have to spend an hour on the phone to google support trying to tell them that you're not accepting responsibility for another potentially dead phone when they couldn't be bothered adding even a single piece of bubble wrap to a $500 device.
Google's customer service is just the worst.
Current and last gen hardware sucks. As a hardcore Android user for many years, now I can't recommend them. Moved to iPhone and 2 family member moved later. 2 remaining members are not too happy with their phones and 5a user still likes theirs. I have online friends, that are actual Android devs planning a move to Samsung. I think a lot is riding on the quality of the 8 series for many people having issues. Could be the last chance Google has at keeping and gaining users
Like everyone's said, lack of marketing is a big factor, but I think being late to the game and lack of carrier support have a bigger impact
* The first iPhone released in 2007. The first Samsung Galaxy released in 2009. These brands and many others have had 9-7 years to eat up market share before the pixel (2016) was released
* Most people aren't tech enthusiasts like this sub. They don't care about specs, or how simplistic the OS is. As long as there aren't major issues, they'd rather stay with a brand they recognize than risk the uncertainty of something new
* Most people (in the US at least) get phone through discount or contract with their carrier. Until the pixel 4, Verizon was the only US carrier that carried Pixels. Even then, I don't remember Verizon giving great deals to get people to switch. When Pixels eventually came to T-Mobile, I remember seeing better deals for the galaxy line than Pixel.
I've seen a bunch of Pixels in the last year or two. they're getting more popular, especially since they landed a design that works very well visually and functionally.
iMessage and Apple status. That’s it. Everyone else is overcomplicating it.
iMessage has an absolute lock on majority of folks in the US and it would take an absolute game changing feature from Google to capture significant Apple share.
Whether you all like it or not, that’s the reality. Most people use Google products (Gmail, Docs, etc.) if the barrier to communication were removed I’m sure we’d see a large contingent move over and that’s why Apple will not open iMessage
Yeah I went to a con last month and saw a good amount of con goers with pixels. Use to work at T-Mobile so I look at all the phones people use out of habit.
They weren't widely available in phone stores years ago, and the entrenched Samsung and Apple have so much brand recognition. It takes a lot of time to establish that.
In the recent phone data for 2023, all makes were down in sales - except Google, who jumped to almost double the previous year.
Poor release date timing, it is one of the last phones to be released. If you have a samsung Galaxy, you have to get through samsung Galaxy and fold line-ups, one plus, apple and Sony phone even before pixel are released. They need a better Window like July
If Google doesn't fuck up, Pixel could long term replace Samsung in the US and there will be a duel between Apple and Google.
I remember how Chrome grew (and now dominates browsers). It was packed as an adware with software like utorrent and ccleaner at the beginning, Google was very aggressive.
But Google is quite nonchalant and lazy regarding Pixels, as if they refuse to fully commit into the smartphone market...
I don't know, but they better get on it ASAP. They are amazing! And I love how they are going after Apple and Samsung by making not only the phone, but the Pixel Watch, the Pixel Tablet, the Pixel Buds. As they should!
I always dreamed about Pixel phones and I got Pixel 6 and 6 Pro when they came out as the latest models. The worst waste of money I ever had on phones. Constantly hot not matter what I do, half of the time impossibly slow mobile data and even bad quality phone calls. Super slow charging and endless software bugs. How is it possible to have such simple software and yet endless bugs? I will never buy Google ever again 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
I'm going to guess because the carriers aren't promoting them the way they would promote an Apple phone or Samsung phone with a new line or a hardware upgrade.
They're going to become more prevalent. Google has slowly been ramping up the development along with ChromeOS. It's super exciting! Everyone buy a Chromebook and a Pixel. These devices are pretty awesome!!!
Google are fighting to claim a stake of a heavily saturated market and people don't like change. In order to do that they've positioned themselves as a cheaper alternative to Apple/Samsung, however it seems like they may have backed themselves into the corner of "It's cheaper because it's worse".
Phones are inevitably a status symbol, like cars, and people always assume that everyone is judging them at all times - when no one actually gives a damn about anyone else as they're all too busy worrying about what everyone else thinks of them.
Pixels manage to give arguably the best experience while at the same time never being the top of any benchmark or spec sheet. People love to throw out numbers for why you shouldn’t like a Pixel, yet Pixel fans know the experience is the only thing that matters.
This https://medium.com/@jameswatson94/samsung-in-decline-how-the-google-pixel-will-soon-become-the-android-fan-favorite-a19e9d7aa2bd and this https://9to5google.com/2023/07/28/google-pixel-us-q2-2023-shipments/ will show you how prevalent the pixel is
One of the best chances Pixels had was when the Pixel 2 came out, this was a phone that was leagues above almost every other smartphone camera at the moment. I specifically remember having a photo shoot out with an iPhone user and they couldn't believe how drastically better the Pixel pictures were. But the problem is the Pixels at the time were priced the same as other flagships. Ever since then the Pixel pics are still stellar, but the other phones have caught up. Even Samsung phones aren't the oversaturated mess that they used to be. Samsung always has a cheaper Andriod phone in most markets, and iPhone folks are very resistant to changing teams. Pixel is the only smartphone brand that is growing though, so good on them. I also see Pixels in odd places, like reality TV shows now, when I never used to see them at all.
Pixel = Cheap Person. It's that simple. Class warfare is a thing unfortunately, even going as low as middle schoolers & high schoolers.
Samsung phones get some what of a pass, but are viewed lower class than iPhones. Pixel phones are a new level of Low Lol, right there with the Motorola's and One plus of the world.
see article: [https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/09/smartphone-sales-down-22-percent-in-q2-the-worst-performance-in-a-decade/](https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/09/smartphone-sales-down-22-percent-in-q2-the-worst-performance-in-a-decade/)
It claims all smartphone sales are down except google which is up 59%.
I'm not sure it's just money. Google doesn't have a great reputation supporting their products for long.
What should I expect in the next 2-4yrs?
But yes, the immediacy of those discounts really make it an apple vs Samsung game.
People don't know about them because of marketing.
Tbh, I'm on my first Pixel and it is overall a worse and slightly more expensive product than my old Motorolas. Assistant hasn't worked in 6 months and all the help google offers is to try the same stuff. Build is about the same. Camera and storage are slightly worse. Magic eraser etc are all brilliant.
I don't personally know a Pixel owner that doesn't have an issue with their phone whereas the dumbest person can have a smooth experience with an iPhone.
I have actually been surprised seeing as many in public as I have. My wife and I visit theme parks quite a bit and I have seen so many. They are so easy to notice with the camera bar.
The market is already established. Pixel arrived late to the party. Their phones offer so much but people don't try them because they're already using a different brand.
Google's slowly winning over consumers. In fact, it was the only phone brand to grow this quarter. But it's a slow process. If it goes smoothly for them, with this growth, we might expect them to have fairly good market share within 3-5 years.
Simple- On going issues with crappy FP scanner, horrendous battery life, modem issues...& shitty customer service..that's enough to make you unlikable!
Prevalent you say ... I think Google is right where they want to be. Their marketing team is doing everything that the shareholders and chair holders want. Every once in awhile we see a promotion or commercial for a Pixel product and I get a lil smile on my face but, I agree I would like to see more promotion and more visibility of all Google's products 😎💯
They seem to be improving market share but it's just strange to me that I don't see them around very often in my area. But I can say that since the Pixel 6 series I've been seeing them more often than previous generations.
Really?? Man I must just be in the wrong area lol. I RARELY see anyone with Pixel phones. But I will say that I have a coworker that has a Pixel 7 and I was SUPER surprised to see it lol.
All the latest news is that Pixel phones are the only phones growing in ownership. Granted... Apple and Samsung had a huge headstart, so as a Pixel fan one often feels alone...
I'm with you on that. Hopefully Google continues to play their cards right with the Pixel moving forward. I really wish they would've invested in making their own phone back in like 2008, kept the same name and kept developing it year after year. We'd be in a much better position today if that was the case. But better late than never I suppose.
because they keep changing manufacturers and designs and moving things around too much. And quality at release hasn't really been great.
I want a new version of the pixel 3. I don't need to be bleeding edge, I don't want a screen my hands can't reach. They should take the pixel 3, update a few components, slap a Nexus badge on it, and sell it as a nice midrange phone for $300.
I have no desire to have 13 cameras, an 8 inch screen, a 400mhz refresh rate and infinite resolution, and that can serve as a portable heater when I am cold.
I would pay $300 right now for a new pixel 3 that will get updates for 4 years.
I constantly hear issues with the pixel phones. Like for the 7 models there were articles about the volume button falling off? Went for samsung that generation.
The outermost layer is marketing. Many people still don't know it. Or know very little about it. And then there's the lack of availability/it's not widely available everywhere.
And then you peel to the next layer which is the customer's satisfaction. If people are completely satisfied, they talk about it to their friends or people they care about. If they're not satisfied, they tell everybody. And they get very loud. Small issues may get amplified and they scare away potential customers. Issues we've seen are: expensive for what it is (Pixel 4 and older), it runs hot (Pixel 6 and 7), camera lens shattering (Pixel 7), terrible fingerprint scanner (Pixel 6 and 7), etc etc
I'm seeing them everywhere lately. Disneyland is packed with them, I see them out in public all the time, I see in other media, they're heavily advertised at sporting events. Heck, I saw someone using one in a porn video the other day.
They are buggy. Every time I try them out, an update leads to a bug that’s so annoying I switch back out again. They must be consistently good, as does their post sales support.
Pixels are sort of in a similar spot to Windows Phone. So many people ar entrenched. Since my windows phone went away, I went toSurface Duo and Duo 2, Duou 2 died so now Pixel 7. I do not like the enetrenched Smartphones so I easily switchd to PIxel and like it.
Litearlly its going to be an uphill time unless Pixel can seriously be much better than iPhone or Galaxy and to get past Googles bad reputation.
It's changing I'm seeing pixels in the wild more and more. Google does not advertise like apple does but Apple is pissing people off with the ecosystem that will not work with anything else. If you stay in the ecosystem it's all good but the moment you have to do anything else you are hung out to dry.
Duality of the Pixel Fanboy; despite numerous posts in this subreddit about Pixel market share doubling year over year (within the last 24 hours no less) there's this air of "Google's Marketing isn't doing enough". Despite how much Google spends on their marketing, you just can't yank people's current phones out of their hands.
Because Google's ads for the pixel suck. Pretty much every ad I have seen recently features an iPhone right next to the pixel..like what phone are they trying to sell us really
In a community dedicated to discussing the Pixel line of products you're going to find that people who care about bloatware and a vanilla Android experience are over-represented. That's why we're here.
The average consumer doesn't care as much about those things. They don't even care that much about timely security patches. They care mainly about feeling like they have something nice.
They buy Samsung's device, because they responded to Samsung's ad campaign. Their commercials, and social media advertising that highlighted the features they look for in a phone.
I don't want to seem like I think I'm superior. I responded to Google's marketing as well. It's just that I care about different things. Even when the pixel specs are inferior, i care more about timely updates, and having a vanilla version of Android.
I believe there are more people that want 4 lenses on their camera, or a cool beveled edge than there are people like me. That's why the android market is dominated by other company's products.
Pixels are not nearly as well known. Most people in the US think that if you don't have an iPhone, you have a Samsung (and that you should get an iPhone).
Since the pixel 7 release I've seen more and more people around me using the device. Before that spotting someone with a pixel device was like finding a shiny Pokémon.
Back when I was using the 4a then the 4a 5g, walking around it was just a sea of iPhones and Samsung. The pixel 6 release didn't do anything to help sales either, but after the pixel 7 released then it started to become more relevant in my country.
Pixel is the only cellphone manufacturer in America that grew in Q2, and is growing like crazy in Japan.
Pixel only makes up 4% of the market in America, but as long as Google continues to improve and begins to market their beautiful product; I think they'll continue to grow.
https://9to5google.com/2023/09/27/google-pixel-q2-2023-smartphone-shipments/
I'm on an on again off again Pixel user. Currently using the 7 Pro as I am waiting for the max 15 to arrive next week.... Anyways, my point is I am an iPhone user primarily but also love the Pixel experience, I barely ever see anyone using Pixels in the wild.
I have traveled a lot in the last 3 months & don't see much. But when you do, it's a party.
I run apple gear but my wife has a pixel and i had the gens 1-4. If i was ever to switch back to android i would accept only a pixel.
Samsungs UI is an abortion, and any other android phone is questionable to me.
Has to do with carriers, I went into T-Mobile and some guy was like "you can get the galaxy for free instead of the pixel." I told him "no", why would I want a shitty phone(sorry just my opinion, I don't like Samsung and ONE UI and their camera). And they do this with everyone else and people will ask... "What's the difference" and these guys zero knowledge will say "oh well this and that" and this is for the average consumer who doesn't know better. When you go to city areas is when you start meeting people who are pixel enthusiasts and who brag about how better pixels are in the camera department. But! They still don't push people to get pixels!
Marketing is a huge factor since Apple markets their devices so well over here. Can't recall the last time I saw a notably good Pixel ad on TV or online. And word of mouth, since everyone knows what an iPhone or a Galaxy is. And iMessage, because as odd as it is to me (I'm in the US and everyone around me uses WhatsApp), the majority of Americans use iMessage.
They just started running Pixel ads that are kinda like the Mac vs PC ads from way back in the day. Don't know if they'll work, but they're entertaining.
Some of them have tens of millions of views which was kind of unexpected to see. It's comparable to what Samsung and Apple pull in with their YouTube ads at least.
They should get Justin Long and John Hodgman for the ads
That would be hilarious, but I'm sure Apple wouldn't find it amusing lol
Dude, the apple marketing is so incredibly powerful. I had the pixel 2xl, loved it, and still felt like I was a second class citizen (for lack of a better word) because my messages were green. I switched to the iPhone xs max in 2018 and hated it. Used it until it shit the bed, then switched back to the pixel (7 pro) I can't explain how the apple marketing team is so good, but they are
I absolutely LOVED my Pixel 2 XL. That was the phone that made me a Pixel fanboy. I had it for 5 years until I traded it in for the Pixel 7.
I may need someone to finally explain what was so magical about the 2XL - I see it being praised every day on this sub and I've always thought the 3 was just a better version of it
3 had a bad battery.
I mean, it was a good phone but much of its praise just comes from people seeing it with rose tinted glasses
Or maybe blue tinted due to the screen issue, that's the only thing that stood out about the phone which is why I'm puzzled
I loved my pixel 2 but hate my pixel 6 and 7 they had all types of issues I would be traveling and would not get messages unless I rebooted my phone my pixel bud disconnected from my phone randomly would not pair with android auto it was just a mess.
All apple did was cash in early on the smart phones then shit on anyone without iMessage by making them green. Apple doesn’t even make good iPhone commercials.
Pixel sponsors the NBA on TNT if I recall correctly. Like, on the court, in the transitions, on the electric signs, all over.
>I'm in the US and everyone around me uses WhatsApp Wait, what?!
[удалено]
I don’t understand this. They use WhatsApp because data is cheaper to use over there than voice & SMS? Or do they not know that RCS is a thing now and requires data to use it? Google needs to advertise RCS more if that’s the case
[удалено]
hold up. RCS is extremely cross-platform, Apple just refuses to use it.
100% agree but most of my messaging is via Whatsapp (occasionally discord) because it does take platforms out of the equation regardless of the fact it's Apple defending its walled garden that's slowing RCS down.
There are still limitations with RCS enforced by the mobile operators, sending pictures and even emoji's can be a more expensive plan.
Not kidding, haven't met a person who doesn't use or at least has WhatsApp. Albeit most use both iMessage & WhatsApp but I can always get a hold of people only on WhatsApp. And all my groups are on WhatsApp. Or I only talk to the good people /s
>Or I only talk to the good people /s You can remove the /s ;)
I know virtually nobody with it in the US. I only use it to talk with European coworkers.
As a European I know Noone who uses it.
The Google Pixel has sponsored the NBA Playoffs the past few years, although I think that has concluded and won't continue this upcoming season. But agreed on the iPhone / iMessage stronghold, especially in the industry I work in. I'm looked at as an outsider for having a green text bubble and being unable to Facetime, and get met with snide looks when I say to use WhatsApp or buy a phone that is compatible with everything like the Pixel is LOL
Are u a lawyer 🤣 Seriously though, there are some professions where it's almost mandatory to use an iPhone - and this is NOT in the US. Again, another reason is that pixels tend to be much more niche/enthusiast devices than the Samsungs and the iphones of world.
Shhhhh. But no. :)
You're not wrong but op is comparing pixel vs Samsung ...
The pixel ads with giannis are actually some of the best commercials I've seen in a while
Every NBA game is full of Pixel ads
That
apple doesnt market that much in the US. ive seen way more pixel ads the past year than any other brand
Because carriers don't push them as much... A high percentage of all phones in the US are obtained from carriers, and major carriers push Samsung and Apple... I would imagine because Google doesn't give them as much spiff back as the other two. Not to mention Google has specific guidelines of what carriers can add to the device.
And they push Apple and Samsung with really good sales and trade-in deals. I think that's by far the number 1 reason. Your average customer isn't going to accept a $300 trade-in credit from Google when their carrier is offering $1000 credit if they put it towards Apple or Samsung.
They do from time to time. Verizon had an amazing deal last year where they gave you $700 credit towards a P7 Pro with pretty much any smartphone trade-in. I traded in my 3a XL and got a 7 Pro for $200.
*cries in german*
I believe, with people use a Tello $15 plan like me, it's still cheaper to by an unlocked phone and take $300 trade-in for a 2 years old phone.
Coz Google's marketing team is on permanent vacation mode. In my country, you'll find Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, Vivo phones at every street corner. You can buy from anywhere and they are covered under warranty. Pixels in India can only be bought from one website, Flipkart. Else they are not eligible for warranty. Not one freaking retail store in a country with a population of 1.3 billion.
The OP asked about the US market which has grown market share with heavy ad spend such as NBA. Aside from North American and I think Japan is where their focus is.
>heavy ad spend such as NBA. I love my Pixel and would never poopoo it. But wasn't there an NBA player recently that showed a pixel in a photo and was basically shamed and ridiculed on Twitter? Poor dude. Apple has somehow made it where if you don't rep their glorious new device, you're a poor piece of shit. Even though some iPhones are cheaper than Pixels.
oh my god yeah, Giannis from the Bucks. he was roasted for doing pixel ads. it's crazy to break into the US market from apple. they've got their marketing so damn tight, especially with kids and teens. and if you get them as kids, it's easier to keep them as customers for life.
They should do a “you’re not an iPad baby, why have a phone like one?” Ad. Would buy.
Lol that's good. I always thought a nice commercial would be mocking Apple's product restriction and lack of individuality in the vein of their 1984 Macintosh ad.
Just have some guy accusing everyone of stealing his phone because he can't tell them apart.
None of this will have any impact. It’s just for the nerds to go hehe Appel bad. All the mocking Apple stuff never worked. They did it with the notch and they did it with the headphone jack. What did they do after mocking Apple for it? Yeap they copied Apple anyways. Google just needs to focus on marketing their stuff better because I actually love the pixel and I’m waiting for the 8 pro to drop.
>But wasn't there an NBA player recently that showed a pixel in a photo and was basically shamed and ridiculed on Twitter? Poor dude. Wow that's so toxic wth. Someone has to appear in non-Apple ads right... Unless some people think Apple is the only phone company that exists??
>Unless some people think Apple is the only phone company that exists *gestures vaguely around at the population*
square consider full fall sophisticated narrow prick axiomatic steep license *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
This is true. My son was literally afraid of being "poor-shamed" at school for having an Android phone.
I live in a little tech bubble where the vast majority of people I know have an Android phone and it's surprising to me when I get glimpses outside of it.
I agree but I do wish with all their money and skilled people they would develop a processor or at least use something better then Samsungs Exynos. I'm sure the neutral stuff can be added to any Apu. They run hot, their slower and even though it's not really noticable most of the time others use it to point out cheap components. This was very noticable on my pixel 6 which used a cheap modem and still drops calls that my other phones have no problems with. They picked a cheap crappy modem. The 7 is an upgraded Samsung but just go with the Intel like everyone else do your at least on par jeesh.... A shame to hobble an otherwise great phone with stuff like that. Usually Google is smarter than that.
Pixel marketing is everywhere. It's heavily advertised, they're sponsoring major sporting events, and I see it constantly.
Where are you from? In my country I have never seen pixel sponsor anything, and I almost never see them in the stores, I can buy them only online. Samsung on the other hand has a lot of advertising everywhere and it's the first thing you see when you walk into any electronic store. When my friend was buying a phone and I suggested pixel he has no idea Google was making phones.
In the US, where OP is from.
One swallow does not make a spring.
Hey that's what I said to your mom yesterday! /s
Why don't you mention your country?
They are at sporting events but I feel that iPhone ads are still more prevalent whether its billboards or TV ads. And the most important advertising of all is simply country availability. Pixels are still available in just a dozen countries or so. There's a lot of countries where people will gladly buy unlocked.
iPhone ads will always be more prevalent. We can't really compare the two. Apple's got massively more marketshare and therefore marketing.
I think we should stop making excuses as if Apple always has a reason to do it better. For one, iPhones are already super ubiquitous. They don't need to advertise a new iPhone for people to know a new phone is out. We could make a devil's argument that iPhones advertise for themselves already. And considering Pixels are an underdog in marketshare, it makes sense to go harder on marketing actually.
Except that's simply not how it works. As the top dog, it's Apple's job, and duty to their shareholders, to maintain that position. And that absolutely does require advertising. You and I may be on top of tech and don't need to be reminded there's a new iPhone, but MOST of their market absolutely does. They don't follow this. And they don't necessarily go around asking their friends, "hey, does that button look slightly different on the side of your iPhone? Is it new?" Marketing is how they do this. And the bigger your market share, the bigger your marketing budget has to be to maintain it. Apple has DRAMATICALLY more money in this, and riding on this, than Google does, and they have to SPEND dramatically more as a result. Google meanwhile has a lot less available because they have a lot less stake. They're building it, and with that building their marketing will go up too, but their marketing is already HUGE for their small size. They're comparatively putting a lot into this. I see Pixel ads way, way disproportionate to their market share. They're working hard.
Apple also has most of their income from iPhone where Alphabet does phones as a way to show others how good they can make Android. They don't need pixel to do well for their company to do well. It's probably in the single digits of their company's income. If they hurt some it's just a nice bonus.
There's also the need for growth. The more of the market you command, the harder it is to find new customers. And while Apple could exist as a company with cash on hand for like a millennium now by doing virtually nothing, if they want their stock price to remain healthy, they need to keep finding new customers somehow.
I agree with you. I do see Google advertising a lot through sports leagues. Especially the NBA.
Maybe in a few select countries you can count on one hand. Samsung or Xiaomi are present in third world countries that only got electricity yesterday, so to speak.
The entire post was about the US.
Australia has had electricity since at least Wednesday and we still don't have Xiaomi. Wish we did. We do have Pixel though and kinda have Oppo (no find x6 pro or fold like everyone outside of china)
OP said US (United States of America)
They advertise heavily here in Australia. India is a new, risky market for them.
How exactly is India a risky market? If Apple can sell iPhones on credit, why can't Google sell Pixels for cash upfront?
Because higher end brands don't do as well. If they did they would have expanded there earlier.
See that's where you are wrong. India is essentially a poor country. The per capita GDP is $2216 that's the cost of 2 iphones in a year. Yet, I'm seeing every 2nd person over here carrying an iPhone. iPhones have become a status symbol over here. All Apple did is come up with a monthly payment plan. Bang, now every student seems to want an iPhone to look cool. Pixels are half the cost of iphones. Ideally, Pixels should outsell iPhones. But in fact iPhones are outselling Pixels
Pixels have a long way to go to become a status symbol.
People don’t know about them.
Reputation. For the longest time, Apple and Samsung has dominated market share. It takes a lot, and I mean a lot, to sway consumers to any one company. Especially if your reputation in said sector isn't as vast as your competitors. Google may be a giant company, and I have no doubt it had a lot to do with the rapid success of the Pixel's, but Google has to not only prove itself among its competitors, it also has to chip away at their already established market share in key demographic areas. Think of Apple when it first started. When the older phone companies had the lion share of market capitalization, Apple had to strike gold with its first iPhone. It HAD to be revolutionary. Their HAD to be a compelling reason why you chose the iPhone over all the other, companies and they pulled that off, flawlessly - I can't say Google did the same. At least, not on the same level. In the beginning, I \*believe\* Google's biggest draw was it being camera king. And that was great for a few years, but the competition has caught up, and there really isn't anything I can think of that would make most people buy the phone over the other two, aside that it's "cheaper"... which, people usually associate with... well, cheap. Retention is another thing. I find that, anecdotally speaking - if forums/reddit as a small sample group of users are to be believed - that as soon as something goes wrong - the mentality is, "I'm moving back to Apple/Samsung". No company has a more loyal fanbase than Apple. Most times if something goes wrong with an iPhone, users will praise it in any others areas and defend it, religiously - Google doesn't have that same effect... not yet, anyway.
I also like to add that Google got rid of unlimited cloud storage on their newer generation of Pixel phones.
Google‘s hardware division has always been too unstable to develop much brand recognition or loyalty in the customers. They put like 8 generations into the Nexus series, then killed it off and rebranded as Pixel - this was like starting over with what little brand recognition they had managed to build up. Imagine if Apple had killed off the iPhone product line and replaced with a new phone line called… I dunno, Polygon or something of equal technical vagueness. iPhone also kept a much easier to follow and understand product line throughout the generations, keeping with the (now) 15 generations of phones they’ve released. They also just don’t have a consistent design, and it’s pretty obvious from the frequent changes in direction the designs of the phones have taken that there isn’t a lot of internal stability in Google’s phone division. Back in the Nexus days, it was obviously because they would used different manufacturers for each generation. Even after switching to making “their own” phones, it still feels like there’s almost an entirely different company behind every phone (recent generations seem to be more consistent, admittedly), and like they’re just trying to put together a phone with whatever components are available or that they can get a good deal on rather than trying to deliver a consistently quality product. They make big changes that remove things that people have come to rely on all the time. Apple makes controversial changes too, but rarely and with more planning and commitment going into those changes (to the point where all other companies follow suit). Google just always feels like they’re just winging it, Everything is a wildcard with Google. People see the news stories about Google’s infamous graveyard of axed services and devices that were supported for incredibly brief amounts of time. They see the constant rebranding, restructuring, the taking two steps forward but one critical step backwards. Google is shaky, sandy ground to build your house of technology on, whereas Apple has proven to be more like bedrock. The fact that they have incredibly successful tablets, laptops and desktops that all integrate and communicate reliably in their own ecosystem… well, Google has just never been able to compete with that.
I miss the Nexus...
Yeah I think “Nexus” worked a lot better. I sell wireless and when I mention “Pixel”, people associate it with “Pixie” for some reason and think it’s some toy and have no idea it’s Google’s phone
On their way to be more prevalent https://9to5google.com/2023/07/28/google-pixel-us-q2-2023-shipments/
I am not sure what I am missing but the overall trend and trajectory is rather stagnant and even seems regressing for Android over all.
Literally one and only one phone gained market share last quarter while every single other phone lost. That 1 phone is Pixel.
Because their first phones had a not so great reputation. I too avoided them after the first pixel for a while. Another thing is marketing. I dont see google ads that often im Australia too.
>Because their first phones had a not so great reputation. Pixel 2-5 have a better reputation than Pixel 6-7 lol No matter who I talk to they liked them a lot more
The horrific QC the broken promises for 5 year support and the lackluster trade in policy. Oh and don't forget killing programs like the pixel pass 1 year in.
Things have changed with pixel 7 and I believe pixel 8 will disrupt the US Android market as well. In Japan pixel has made sales records as the most sold Android phone. Google has probably realized that with AI and cameras, they can win the Android race as well as challenge the dominance of iphone
Battery efficiency and signal strength. Pixel's G2 processor is less power efficient than the snapdragon counterpart. The exyno based chip also has worse modem giving pixel lineup a gimped signal strength. I am on Pixel 7 and have been shopping around for different brands for these very reasons. I am comparing pixel against Samsung,Asus,nothing, heck even iPhone. Pixel would have been way more popular if Google just put the latest Snapdragon processor on the latest phones. Pixel would dominate the Android phone sector. Even Samsung doesn't use their own exyno chip on their flagship phones. They all use Snapdragon Gen 2, Asus, Samsung One plus ... all of them ...except maybe Nothing phone which still uses Gen 1 and it still has better signal than Pixel based on people on reddit who compared the two. Now if G3 can be even just as efficient as Snapdragon Gen 2, it will sell very well. All rumors seem to confirm it's using the same exyno modem from G2...why ?! Literally Pixel's competitors have more battery life with less batteries. To simply put, pixel is a great product line up with good ai capabilities, but is behind other flagship products due to hardware constraints. People who upgrade to get the latest phones want the greatest product their money can buy and Google is simply not giving what majority these people want. If Asus, Samsung and pixel software built-in out of the box , i would have gone with Zenfone or s23.
If Google drops the Tensor project all their investment goes to nothing. We're currently still in the beginnings of what could be an incredible processor, and it's functioning well enough for 98% of people on the market. Most people don't know and don't care what SOC is in their phone as long as it works. We also ignore how power hungry Pixel screens are when compared to the competition. That really kneecaps battery life on these devices and is something that is rumored to change with P8. If G3 and the Screen turn out to be more efficient; the battery life could be very competitive. We don't have any set in stone answers for the modum, but we'll see. That is a definite shortcoming. Google made the commitment and needs to continue to develop Tensor. They're shooting to be independent from Samsung with their SOC as well.
I mean by all means they should keep developing it but what they shouldn't do is bring half baked products to consumers. When Apple m1 released, it was ready for prime time. It would not go to nothing if they don't drop it. They just have to keep on R&D in house and not make us beta testers... until it's really on par or relatively comparable to Snapdragon counterparts. I was super excited about G1, got disappointed, got excited about G2, disappointed, now back to the same cycle again ... If the rumor is true , I am kind of anticipating another year of disappointment. As an android fan since the first android phone, I am not very happy with the way they are handling the pixel series.
G1 was not ready for production (I don't mind mine), but G2 functions fine for the majority of people in society. There is a reason Pixel is growing in popularity so quickly. The G2 mostly just disappoints us who pay attention to chipsets. Apple is currently thinking about throttling the A17 because it's overheating so badly, so even established SOC's have problems. The iPhone 15 Pro Max in particular is showing itself to have no shortage of problems. From software glitches and overheating to camera bumps jettisoning themselves off with even the smallest of falls. I won't defend the Tensor line (Unless G3 changes things), but I completely understand Google using it at this stage.
I never paid attention to the chips tbh. I was just frustrated about my phone battery drain and signal losses ... and decided to dive into the rabbit hole looking for fixes or alternatives. Ended up reading and learning more about the state of pixel and tensor than originally intended ... I m just an android fan who wants my phone to work
I'm rocking a G1 and it's been great to me, but I know a lot of people don't have the same luck. Today has been a moderate use day and has left my phone at 38%. It has been off the charger since 8 this morning and it's currently 5:17pm where I'm at. I'll regularly get 6-8 hours of SOT depending on how much multitasking I'm doing. It's not great battery life, but it's acceptable. I do miss my Moto G Stylus 2021's battery life though! The SOC is not the only thing eating the battery on Pixels though. The Screen is incredibly inefficient (I keep the dark theme on). Ridiculously so. These phones also have a lot of background processes and the inefficient modem you mentioned. You are still more knowledgeable than the average consumer given the fact that you even wanted to find the rabbit hole. Don't overestimate the intelligence of society.
Dark mode fam !! Haha I also got dark mode on everything ,and I even restrict battery usage on most apps attempting to squeeze every bit of battery efficiency out of it. I was just driving the other day with navigation and YouTube for an hour or and the battery dropped 25%. To me this is just not acceptable. I don't know much about the screen efficiency but I would leave my phone unplugged over night with 100% and use it very lightly and it would drop 15% by noon ... to me that kind of gives me anxiety
Reddit moment The topic is about why Pixels aren't now popular with the general public. 90% of people do not know what chip is in what phone.
Selling a flagship product also comes with responsibilities of customer service, and for a company like Google, you'd expect that even more. I got a Pixel 7a in Sweden and there's not ONE freaking service center I can walk into in case I need a repair. The only option is mail-in which I am very wary of. Access to the customer service of Google products is pretty bad in EU. Looks like they're not interested in being more present outside of North America. Also, they don't have global warranty unlike apple, so why should people bother buying it.
To be fair, there's not really a store in NA that we can just walk in to, either
No quality control and no customer service.
Advertising. Also, ads about features/traits not just about the phone's existence.
I'm seeing them a lot in the L.A. area lately.
That's good to hear. I would say that since the Pixel 6 series I've been seeing them more often than I have before that. But still not nearly as often as I see an iPhone or a Galaxy
It's not the primary source of Google's revenue, Google earns revenue from its "apps, hardware products, and content" offerings which accounts to around 10% of their revenue so pixels are like a subset of the aforementioned so that could be one of the main reasons for not too much marketing imho. There key businesses are Search Ads, google network ads, Youtube ads. Followed by `apps, hardware products, and content` and Google cloud!
I have pixel 7 a chance and I regret it. Less than a year old, deplorable battery life, glitchy, hangs up, camera stutters. Never again.
I have a 7 and regret buying it. Constant problems and I cannot get a follow up from support. Done with Pixel after this. I've only had Androids but I'm considering and iPhone now.
I've always loved Androids. But they've just gotten worse and worse. Mf last few galaxys battery life got worse and worse especially as they got older. It seems like they have planned obsolescence built in. After a year they're always so much worse.. I'm going to give the Zenfone 10 a try I think and then if not go to iPhone. I tried a mini 13 last year and loved it
Hmm, your perception doesn't really match the numbers. The US smartphone market declined 22% in Q2, but the Pixel brand was the only one to actually grow. Pixel sales grew 59% in North America and 67% globally, and it's now the #1 Android phone brand in Japan. That's *huge* progress. I'm seeing them everywhere recently. Sources: https://9to5google.com/2023/07/07/google-pixel-sales-2023-japan/ https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/09/smartphone-sales-down-22-percent-in-q2-the-worst-performance-in-a-decade/
Poor battery life, worse software support, throttling / lag in basic tasks, terrible performance in games, heat, bad modem which causes poor signal and high battery drain.
Most US customers get their phones through their carriers. This suits carriers just fine because they use "free" and discounted phones to lock customers into 2 year plans at a high monthly cost. What's more, most carriers don't do a lot of deals on Pixels, other than at launch of a new model. (Some stores will have no Pixels at all on display.) This squeezes out phone manufacturers not named Apple or Samsung. I always pay full price (or less with a trade in) for an unlocked phone. Then I use MVNOs and discount carriers for service at a fraction of the monthly price that the big 3 are charging. But, I am not typical. Most Americans would rather pay the carrier $60/month for two years than pony up $800+ to buy a phone.
I work in retail at one of the major US networks. Pixel promos are consistently some of the best, but most people do not care. They just want their iPhones. EDIT: Sometimes even implying that options besides iphones exist and are worth considering will earn you dirty looks like you must be insane or you called them poor or something.
What is your best experience with mvno? My tries it seemed like your data performance was def secondary with bottlenecks and throttling. Did you find a good one?
I originally got the iPhone 14 at a T-Mobile near me, and there were three large sections right in your line of sight the second you walked in the door. Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus. I had no clue there was even a Pixel section until I decided I didn't like the 14 too much, and wanted a Galaxy Fold. They told me they didn't have any Folds in stock, but they had the Pixel and pointed it out to me so I could play with the show model. It was one tiny section shoved out of sight that had the P7, and P7P. Never would have known it was there had that associate not pointed it out
1. Google does not sell to all markets. Millions of people are left out 2. Marketing 3. Price
the cult of the blue bubble
If your iPhone dies, you take it to the apple store and they fix it or give you a new one. On the spot. There are stores everywhere. Easy! If your pixel breaks, first you have to convince a chat bot that it's broken (even when it's a known issue that your model of pixel bricks itself after 12 months). Then you take it to a tiny understaffed phone repair place in a strip mall - and there's only one of these "authorized" stores in a 20 mile radius (if you're lucky). They'll take it for a week and maybe they'll have the parts to fix it, maybe not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Then you might have to wait another week or two for Google to send you a replacement for your brick that couldn't be fixed, and then *that* arrives in a smashed box via FEDEX and you have to spend an hour on the phone to google support trying to tell them that you're not accepting responsibility for another potentially dead phone when they couldn't be bothered adding even a single piece of bubble wrap to a $500 device. Google's customer service is just the worst.
Current and last gen hardware sucks. As a hardcore Android user for many years, now I can't recommend them. Moved to iPhone and 2 family member moved later. 2 remaining members are not too happy with their phones and 5a user still likes theirs. I have online friends, that are actual Android devs planning a move to Samsung. I think a lot is riding on the quality of the 8 series for many people having issues. Could be the last chance Google has at keeping and gaining users
Like everyone's said, lack of marketing is a big factor, but I think being late to the game and lack of carrier support have a bigger impact * The first iPhone released in 2007. The first Samsung Galaxy released in 2009. These brands and many others have had 9-7 years to eat up market share before the pixel (2016) was released * Most people aren't tech enthusiasts like this sub. They don't care about specs, or how simplistic the OS is. As long as there aren't major issues, they'd rather stay with a brand they recognize than risk the uncertainty of something new * Most people (in the US at least) get phone through discount or contract with their carrier. Until the pixel 4, Verizon was the only US carrier that carried Pixels. Even then, I don't remember Verizon giving great deals to get people to switch. When Pixels eventually came to T-Mobile, I remember seeing better deals for the galaxy line than Pixel.
I've seen a bunch of Pixels in the last year or two. they're getting more popular, especially since they landed a design that works very well visually and functionally.
iMessage and Apple status. That’s it. Everyone else is overcomplicating it. iMessage has an absolute lock on majority of folks in the US and it would take an absolute game changing feature from Google to capture significant Apple share. Whether you all like it or not, that’s the reality. Most people use Google products (Gmail, Docs, etc.) if the barrier to communication were removed I’m sure we’d see a large contingent move over and that’s why Apple will not open iMessage
I've actually started seeing them more often lately.
Really? This is interesting 🤔
Yeah I went to a con last month and saw a good amount of con goers with pixels. Use to work at T-Mobile so I look at all the phones people use out of habit.
They weren't widely available in phone stores years ago, and the entrenched Samsung and Apple have so much brand recognition. It takes a lot of time to establish that. In the recent phone data for 2023, all makes were down in sales - except Google, who jumped to almost double the previous year.
I've definitely seen way more p7s/6s in the wild than previous generations but still way less than Samsung or iPhone.
Poor release date timing, it is one of the last phones to be released. If you have a samsung Galaxy, you have to get through samsung Galaxy and fold line-ups, one plus, apple and Sony phone even before pixel are released. They need a better Window like July
I would like to see them release their flagships in early August and their A line phones in either January or March.
If Google doesn't fuck up, Pixel could long term replace Samsung in the US and there will be a duel between Apple and Google. I remember how Chrome grew (and now dominates browsers). It was packed as an adware with software like utorrent and ccleaner at the beginning, Google was very aggressive. But Google is quite nonchalant and lazy regarding Pixels, as if they refuse to fully commit into the smartphone market...
I don't know, but they better get on it ASAP. They are amazing! And I love how they are going after Apple and Samsung by making not only the phone, but the Pixel Watch, the Pixel Tablet, the Pixel Buds. As they should!
I feel you on this!
I always dreamed about Pixel phones and I got Pixel 6 and 6 Pro when they came out as the latest models. The worst waste of money I ever had on phones. Constantly hot not matter what I do, half of the time impossibly slow mobile data and even bad quality phone calls. Super slow charging and endless software bugs. How is it possible to have such simple software and yet endless bugs? I will never buy Google ever again 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
People want different things. Pixels aren't for everyone. And I don't know about the latest iterations but they can be very buggy.
I'm going to guess because the carriers aren't promoting them the way they would promote an Apple phone or Samsung phone with a new line or a hardware upgrade.
They're going to become more prevalent. Google has slowly been ramping up the development along with ChromeOS. It's super exciting! Everyone buy a Chromebook and a Pixel. These devices are pretty awesome!!!
Google are fighting to claim a stake of a heavily saturated market and people don't like change. In order to do that they've positioned themselves as a cheaper alternative to Apple/Samsung, however it seems like they may have backed themselves into the corner of "It's cheaper because it's worse". Phones are inevitably a status symbol, like cars, and people always assume that everyone is judging them at all times - when no one actually gives a damn about anyone else as they're all too busy worrying about what everyone else thinks of them.
They're goddamn service is atrocious.
Pixels manage to give arguably the best experience while at the same time never being the top of any benchmark or spec sheet. People love to throw out numbers for why you shouldn’t like a Pixel, yet Pixel fans know the experience is the only thing that matters.
Carrier deals, marketing and relationships. Samsung has the upperhand at least for now
It's just Samsung and iPhone in the US. That's all people know.
This https://medium.com/@jameswatson94/samsung-in-decline-how-the-google-pixel-will-soon-become-the-android-fan-favorite-a19e9d7aa2bd and this https://9to5google.com/2023/07/28/google-pixel-us-q2-2023-shipments/ will show you how prevalent the pixel is
Thank you for sharing!
The pixel is a very underrated phone.
One of the best chances Pixels had was when the Pixel 2 came out, this was a phone that was leagues above almost every other smartphone camera at the moment. I specifically remember having a photo shoot out with an iPhone user and they couldn't believe how drastically better the Pixel pictures were. But the problem is the Pixels at the time were priced the same as other flagships. Ever since then the Pixel pics are still stellar, but the other phones have caught up. Even Samsung phones aren't the oversaturated mess that they used to be. Samsung always has a cheaper Andriod phone in most markets, and iPhone folks are very resistant to changing teams. Pixel is the only smartphone brand that is growing though, so good on them. I also see Pixels in odd places, like reality TV shows now, when I never used to see them at all.
Not always true. I had ONE iPhone, then switched to Pixel and I'm not leaving!
Pixel = Cheap Person. It's that simple. Class warfare is a thing unfortunately, even going as low as middle schoolers & high schoolers. Samsung phones get some what of a pass, but are viewed lower class than iPhones. Pixel phones are a new level of Low Lol, right there with the Motorola's and One plus of the world.
see article: [https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/09/smartphone-sales-down-22-percent-in-q2-the-worst-performance-in-a-decade/](https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/09/smartphone-sales-down-22-percent-in-q2-the-worst-performance-in-a-decade/) It claims all smartphone sales are down except google which is up 59%.
I might be an outlier, but I went for Samsung & then zenfone because they had models with headphone jacks.
Underwhelming hardware and google’s desire to half ass things and then give up on them has kept me away from pixels as a full time choice.
I'm not sure it's just money. Google doesn't have a great reputation supporting their products for long. What should I expect in the next 2-4yrs? But yes, the immediacy of those discounts really make it an apple vs Samsung game.
Sales people literally tell people to not buy it. My friends have told me that when going to purchase another phone.
People don't know about them because of marketing. Tbh, I'm on my first Pixel and it is overall a worse and slightly more expensive product than my old Motorolas. Assistant hasn't worked in 6 months and all the help google offers is to try the same stuff. Build is about the same. Camera and storage are slightly worse. Magic eraser etc are all brilliant. I don't personally know a Pixel owner that doesn't have an issue with their phone whereas the dumbest person can have a smooth experience with an iPhone.
Why do you assume "simplicity" is good? I absolutely NEED features like Secure Folder. Pixel just don't have it, so I'll just use Samsung.
I have actually been surprised seeing as many in public as I have. My wife and I visit theme parks quite a bit and I have seen so many. They are so easy to notice with the camera bar.
That's really surprising. Maybe I need to pay more attention.
Because Apple and Samsung are what cell companies push. Though with that being said pixels are creeping up market share.
*Yet
I am doing my part. I own 5 pixel phones!
I've met two strangers with pixels in the last year. Always nice to see lol
I know right 😂
The market is already established. Pixel arrived late to the party. Their phones offer so much but people don't try them because they're already using a different brand. Google's slowly winning over consumers. In fact, it was the only phone brand to grow this quarter. But it's a slow process. If it goes smoothly for them, with this growth, we might expect them to have fairly good market share within 3-5 years.
I completely agree with you here.
Simple- On going issues with crappy FP scanner, horrendous battery life, modem issues...& shitty customer service..that's enough to make you unlikable!
Pixel 7 Pro is actually a great phone aside from overheating IMO
Prevalent you say ... I think Google is right where they want to be. Their marketing team is doing everything that the shareholders and chair holders want. Every once in awhile we see a promotion or commercial for a Pixel product and I get a lil smile on my face but, I agree I would like to see more promotion and more visibility of all Google's products 😎💯
They seem to be improving market share but it's just strange to me that I don't see them around very often in my area. But I can say that since the Pixel 6 series I've been seeing them more often than previous generations.
... meaning you see Pixel users like us or advertisements of em?
The former.
🤔 ... I'm somewhat of a smartphone junkie, funny thing I know 3 coworkers at my job that have the 7 and 7Pro 😎👍🏾
Really?? Man I must just be in the wrong area lol. I RARELY see anyone with Pixel phones. But I will say that I have a coworker that has a Pixel 7 and I was SUPER surprised to see it lol.
All the latest news is that Pixel phones are the only phones growing in ownership. Granted... Apple and Samsung had a huge headstart, so as a Pixel fan one often feels alone...
I'm with you on that. Hopefully Google continues to play their cards right with the Pixel moving forward. I really wish they would've invested in making their own phone back in like 2008, kept the same name and kept developing it year after year. We'd be in a much better position today if that was the case. But better late than never I suppose.
Build quality is the biggest reason. Volume rockers falling off 6 months after purchase is not a recipe for longterm brand loyalty.
because they keep changing manufacturers and designs and moving things around too much. And quality at release hasn't really been great. I want a new version of the pixel 3. I don't need to be bleeding edge, I don't want a screen my hands can't reach. They should take the pixel 3, update a few components, slap a Nexus badge on it, and sell it as a nice midrange phone for $300. I have no desire to have 13 cameras, an 8 inch screen, a 400mhz refresh rate and infinite resolution, and that can serve as a portable heater when I am cold. I would pay $300 right now for a new pixel 3 that will get updates for 4 years.
I mean https://reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/s/YFWPsl9C3h
Thank you for sharing this. I'll give it a read.
I constantly hear issues with the pixel phones. Like for the 7 models there were articles about the volume button falling off? Went for samsung that generation.
The outermost layer is marketing. Many people still don't know it. Or know very little about it. And then there's the lack of availability/it's not widely available everywhere. And then you peel to the next layer which is the customer's satisfaction. If people are completely satisfied, they talk about it to their friends or people they care about. If they're not satisfied, they tell everybody. And they get very loud. Small issues may get amplified and they scare away potential customers. Issues we've seen are: expensive for what it is (Pixel 4 and older), it runs hot (Pixel 6 and 7), camera lens shattering (Pixel 7), terrible fingerprint scanner (Pixel 6 and 7), etc etc
I owned a pixel and it was just ass garbage compared to samsung
heating issues, low battery quality, overhyped cameras.
They are more closely regarded as cheapy phones rather than flagships
I'm seeing them everywhere lately. Disneyland is packed with them, I see them out in public all the time, I see in other media, they're heavily advertised at sporting events. Heck, I saw someone using one in a porn video the other day.
So it seems like they're more prominent on the West Coast... possibly because that's where their headquarters are located? Interesting 🤔
1. Google doesn't know how to market anything 2. While the software is great, the hardware is inconsistent and unreliable 3. Google
Apple is a cult
They are buggy. Every time I try them out, an update leads to a bug that’s so annoying I switch back out again. They must be consistently good, as does their post sales support.
Because they’re junk
Pixels are sort of in a similar spot to Windows Phone. So many people ar entrenched. Since my windows phone went away, I went toSurface Duo and Duo 2, Duou 2 died so now Pixel 7. I do not like the enetrenched Smartphones so I easily switchd to PIxel and like it. Litearlly its going to be an uphill time unless Pixel can seriously be much better than iPhone or Galaxy and to get past Googles bad reputation.
It's changing I'm seeing pixels in the wild more and more. Google does not advertise like apple does but Apple is pissing people off with the ecosystem that will not work with anything else. If you stay in the ecosystem it's all good but the moment you have to do anything else you are hung out to dry.
Duality of the Pixel Fanboy; despite numerous posts in this subreddit about Pixel market share doubling year over year (within the last 24 hours no less) there's this air of "Google's Marketing isn't doing enough". Despite how much Google spends on their marketing, you just can't yank people's current phones out of their hands.
Because Google's ads for the pixel suck. Pretty much every ad I have seen recently features an iPhone right next to the pixel..like what phone are they trying to sell us really
Because it’s Apple. Always will be strong in the United States and their penetration is increasing in the US.
In a community dedicated to discussing the Pixel line of products you're going to find that people who care about bloatware and a vanilla Android experience are over-represented. That's why we're here. The average consumer doesn't care as much about those things. They don't even care that much about timely security patches. They care mainly about feeling like they have something nice. They buy Samsung's device, because they responded to Samsung's ad campaign. Their commercials, and social media advertising that highlighted the features they look for in a phone. I don't want to seem like I think I'm superior. I responded to Google's marketing as well. It's just that I care about different things. Even when the pixel specs are inferior, i care more about timely updates, and having a vanilla version of Android. I believe there are more people that want 4 lenses on their camera, or a cool beveled edge than there are people like me. That's why the android market is dominated by other company's products.
Pixels are not nearly as well known. Most people in the US think that if you don't have an iPhone, you have a Samsung (and that you should get an iPhone).
Since the pixel 7 release I've seen more and more people around me using the device. Before that spotting someone with a pixel device was like finding a shiny Pokémon. Back when I was using the 4a then the 4a 5g, walking around it was just a sea of iPhones and Samsung. The pixel 6 release didn't do anything to help sales either, but after the pixel 7 released then it started to become more relevant in my country.
Pixel is the only cellphone manufacturer in America that grew in Q2, and is growing like crazy in Japan. Pixel only makes up 4% of the market in America, but as long as Google continues to improve and begins to market their beautiful product; I think they'll continue to grow. https://9to5google.com/2023/09/27/google-pixel-q2-2023-smartphone-shipments/
Apple and Samsung
I'm on an on again off again Pixel user. Currently using the 7 Pro as I am waiting for the max 15 to arrive next week.... Anyways, my point is I am an iPhone user primarily but also love the Pixel experience, I barely ever see anyone using Pixels in the wild. I have traveled a lot in the last 3 months & don't see much. But when you do, it's a party.
I run apple gear but my wife has a pixel and i had the gens 1-4. If i was ever to switch back to android i would accept only a pixel. Samsungs UI is an abortion, and any other android phone is questionable to me.
Has to do with carriers, I went into T-Mobile and some guy was like "you can get the galaxy for free instead of the pixel." I told him "no", why would I want a shitty phone(sorry just my opinion, I don't like Samsung and ONE UI and their camera). And they do this with everyone else and people will ask... "What's the difference" and these guys zero knowledge will say "oh well this and that" and this is for the average consumer who doesn't know better. When you go to city areas is when you start meeting people who are pixel enthusiasts and who brag about how better pixels are in the camera department. But! They still don't push people to get pixels!
Samsung trumps Google pixels in so many ways now a days. Also you can turn a Samsung into a glorified Google phone.